77 


to 

o 


c\j 

01 


INDIAN  CIVILIZATION: 


LECTURE 


BY 


Stanley  Pumphrey 


OF 


ENGLAND. 


WITH    INTRODUCTION    BY 


JOHN    G.    WHITTIER. 


TO    BE   HAD    OF 

THE    BIBLE    AND    TRACT    DISTRIBUTING    SOCIETY, 

116  NORTH  FOURTH  STREET,  PHILADELPHIA. 

1877. 


ff 


WM.  H.  PILE,  PRINTER, 

No.  422  Walnut  Street,  Philadelphia. 


CONTENTS. 


MAP   OF   THE   INDIAN    TERRITORY. 

INTRODUCTION,  (by  John  G.  Whittier, 
LECTURE,  (by  Stanley  Pumphrey,) 


APPENDIX. 
EVIDENCE  ON  THE  CONDITION  OF  INDIANS  IN  CANADA, 

(by  /.  T.  G&kison,)    .  .  .  .  .37 

LETTER  TO  THE  XEW  YORK  TRIBUNE,  SECOND  MONTH 

17,  1877,  (by  H.  B.  Whipple,  Bishop  of  Minnesota,)     41 


3G6241 


>*«* 


INTRODUCTION. 


THE  present  condition  and  future  prospects  of  the  remnants  of 
the  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  this  continent,  can  scarcely  be  a  mat- 
ter of  indifference  to  any  class  of  the  people  of  the  United  States. 
Apart  from  all  considerations  of  justice  and  duty,  a  purely  selfish 
regard  to  our  own  well-being  would  compel  attention  to  the  subject. 
The  irreversible  laws  of  God's  moral  government,  and  the  well- 
attested  maxims  of  political  and  social  economy,  leave  us  in  no 
doubt  that  the  suffering,  neglect  and  wrong  of  one  part  of  the  com- 
munity, must  affect  all  others.  A  common  responsibility  rests  upon 
each  and  all  to  relieve  suffering,  enlighten  ignorance,  and  redress 
wrong,  and  the  penalty  of  neglect  in  this  respect  no  nation  has 
ever  escaped. 

It  is  only  within  a  comparatively  recent  period  that  the  term 
Indian  Civilisation  could  be  appropriately  used  in  this  country. 
How  little  real  progress  had  been  made  in  this  direction,  may  be 
seen  by  the  reference  in  the  following  discourse  to  the  visit  of 
Commissioner  John  D.  Lang,  in  1844,  to  the  Tribes  now  most 
advanced.  So  little  had  been  done,  that  public  opinion  had  acqui- 
esced in  the  assumption  that  the  Indians  were  not  susceptible  of 
civilization  and  progress.  The  few  experiments  had  not  been  cal- 
culated to  assure  a  superficial  observer. 

The  unsupported  efforts  of  Elliot  in  New  England,  were  counter- 
acted by  the  imprisonment,  and  in  some  instances  the  massacre  of 
his  "praying  Indians,"  by  white  men  under  the  exasperation  of 
war  with  hostile  tribes.  The  salutary  influence  of  the  Moravians 
and  Friends  in  Pennsylvania,  was  greatly  weakened  by  the  dreadful 


6  Introduction. 

massacre  of  the  unarmed  and  blameless  converts  of  Gnadenhutten. 
But  since  the  first  visit  of  Commissioner  Lang,  thirty-three  years  ago, 
the  progress  of  education,  civilization  and  conversion  to  Christianity, 
has  been  of  a  most  encouraging  nature,  and  if  Indian  civilization 
was  ever  a  doubtful  problem,  it  has  been  practically  solved. 

The  nomadic  habits  and  warlike  propensities  of  the  native  tribes, 
are  indeed  formidable,  but  not  insuperable  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
their  elevation.  The  wildest  of  them  may  compare  not  unfavorably 
with  those  Northern  barbarian  hordes  that  swooped  down  upon 
Christian  Europe,  and  who  were  so  soon  the  docile  pupils  and 
proselytes  of  the  'peoples  they  had  conquered.  The  Arapahoes  and 
Camanches  of  our  day  are  no  further  removed  from  the  sweetness 
and  light  of  Christian  culture,  than  the  Scandinavian  Sea  Kings  of 
the  middle  centuries,  whose  gods  were  patrons  of  rapine  and  cruelty, 
their  heaven  a  vast,  cloud-built  ale-house,  where  ghostly  warriors 
drank  from  the  skulls  of  their  victims,  and  whose  hell  was  a  frozen 
horror  of  desolation  and  darkness,  to  be  avoided  only  by  diligence 
in  robbery,  and  courage  in  murder.  The  descendants  of  these 
human  butchers  are  now  among  the  best  exponents  of  the  human- 
izing influence  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  The  report  of  the  Superin- 
tendent of  the  remnants  of  the  once  fierce  and  warlike  Six  Nations, 
now  peaceable  and  prosperous  in  Canada,  shows  that  the  Indian  is 
not  inferior  to  the  Norse  ancestors  of  the  Danes  and  Norwegians 
of  our  day,  in  capability  of  improvement. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say,  what  is  universally  conceded,  that 
the  wars  waged  by  the  Indians  against  the  whites,  have,  in  nearly 
every  instance,  been  provoked  by  violations  of  solemn  treaties,  and 
systematic  disregard  of  their  rights  of  person,  property  and  life. 
The  letter  of  Bishop  Whipple,  of  Minnesota,  to  the  New  York 
Tribune  of  Second  Month,  1877,  calls  attention  to  the  emphatic 
language  of  Generals  Sherman,  Harney,  Terry  and  Augur,  written 
after  a  full  and  searching  investigation  of  the  subject :  "  That  the 
Indian  goes  to  war  is  not  astonishing :  he  is  often  compelled  to  do  so  : 
wrongs  are  borne  by  him  in  silence,  which  never  fail  to  drive  civilized 


Introduction.  .  1 

men  to  deeds  of  violence.      The  best  possible  way  to  avoid  war,  is  to 
do  no  injustice. ' ' 

It  is  not  difficult  to  understand  the  feelings  of  the  unfortunate 
pioneer  settlers  on  the  extreme  borders  of  civilization,  upon  whom 
the  blind  vengeance  of  the  wronged  and  hunted  Indians  falls 
oftener  than  upon  the  real  wrong-doers.  They  point  to  terrible 
and  revolting  cruelties,  as  proof  that  nothing  short  of  the  absolute 
extermination  of  the  race  can  prevent  their  repetition.  But  a 
moment's  consideration  compels  us  to  admit  that  atrocious  cruelty 
is  not  peculiar  to  the  red  man.  "  All  wars  are  cruel,"  said  Gen. 
Sherman,  and  for  eighteen  centuries  Christendom  has  been  a  great 
battle  field.  What  Indian  raid  has  been  more  dreadful  than  the 
sack  of  Magdeburg,  the  massacre  of  Glencoe,  the  nameless  atrocities 
of  the  Duke  of  Alva  in  the  Netherlands,  the  murders  of  St.  Bar- 
tholomew's day,  the  unspeakable  agonies  of  the  South  of  France 
under  the  demoniac  rule  of  revolution  !  All  history,  black  with 
crime  and  red  with  blood,  is  but  an  awful  commentary  upon  "man's 
inhumanity  to  man,"  and  it  teaches  us  that  there  is  nothing  excep- 
tional in  the  Indian's  ferocity  and  vindictiveness,  and  that  the 
alleged  reasons  for  his  extermination  would,  at  one  time  or  another, 
have  applied  with  equal  force  to  the  whole  family  of  man. 

The  lecture  of  my  friend,  STANLEY  PUMPHREY,  comprises  more  of 
valuable  information  and  pertinent  suggestions  on  the  Indian  ques- 
tion than  I  have  found  in  any  equal  space ;  and  I  am  glad  of  the 
opportunity  to  add  to  it  my  hearty  endorsement,  and  to  express  the 
conviction  that  its  general  circulation  could  not  fail  to  awaken  a 
deeper  and  more  kindly  interest  in  the  condition  of  the  Red  Man, 
and  greatly  aid  in  leading  the  public  mind  to  a  fuller  appreciation 
of  the  responsibility  which  rests  upon  us  as  a  people,  to  rectify,  as 
far  as  possible,  past  abuses,  and  in  our  future  relations  to  the  native 
owners  of  the  soil,  to  "  deal  justly  and  love  mercy." 

JOHN  G.  WHITTIER. 

Oak  Knoll,  Danvers^th  mo.  25,  1877. 


INDIAN    CIVILIZATION. 

A  LECTURE  DELIVERED  IN  PHILADELPHIA,  BALTIMORE 
AND  NEW  YORK. — Fourth  Month,   1877, 

BY 

STANLEY    PUMPHREY,    OF    WORCESTER,    ENGLAND. 


IN  the  course  of  last  Autumn  and  Winter  I  spent  several  weeks 
among  the  tribes  in '  the  Indian  Territory  and  Kansas,  which  are 
about  thirty  in  number,  and  comprehend  a  fourth  of  the  whole  Indian 
population  of  the  United  States.  They  include  some  of  the  wildest 
and  the  worst  like  the  Comanches  and  Cheyennes,  and  some  of  the 
most  civilized  like  the  Cherokees  and  Creeks,  with  every  shade  of 
barbarism  and  semi-civilization  between.  I  have  thus  had  the  op- 
portunity of  seeing  the  Indians  under  a  great  variety  of  conditions, 
and  of  mingling  with  many  of  those  who  for  long  periods  of  years 
have  worked  for  their  elevation.  My  companion  during  the  greater 
part  of  the  trip  was  Enoch  Hoag,  who  as  the  head  of  the  Central 
Superintendency,  devoted  himself  for  seven  years  to  the  work  with 
earnest  assiduity,  and  gained  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  Indians, 
such  as  few  possess. 

I  have  been  encouraged  to  bring  the  result  of  my  observations 
before  you,  and  have  consented  in  the  hope  that  while  I  cannot 
claim  to  be  as  well  posted  as  I  would  wish  to  be,  my  testimony  may 
not  be  altogether  without  its  value. 

In  conversing  about  the  Indians  I  have  found  the  impression  pre- 
vailing widely  that  their  prospects  are  hopeless,  that  our  labor  in 


10  Indian  Civilization. 

their  behalf  produces  little  if  any  permanent  result,  and  that  there  is 
nothing  before  this  unhappy  race  but  extinction  at  no  distant  date. 
I  do  not  think  this  view  is  well  grounded,  and  I  will  now  endeavor 
to  tell  you  why  I  think  so. 

THE  CHEROKEES  AND  CREEKS. 

In  the  eastern  part  of  the  Indian  Territory,  which  as  you  are 
aware  is  a  section  of  country  lying  between  Texas  and  Kansas,  five 
tribes  are  located,  commonly  known  as  the  civilized  tribes.  I  do 
not  insist  on  the  absolute  appropriateness  of  the  term,  but  relatively 
it  need  not  be  objected  to.  These  are  the  Cherokees,  numbering 
18,000,  the  descendants  of  the  once  powerful  tribe  that  occupied  the 
Carolinas  and  Tennessee;  the  Creeks,  numbering  14,000,  whose 
former  home  was  Georgia ;  the  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws  of  Ala- 
bama and  Mississippi,  numbering  22,000;  and  the  Seminoles  of 
Florida,  who  are  about  2500.  Among  these  tribes  Enoch  Hoag  and 
I  began  our  tour  of  Christian  interest  and  enquiry.  We  attended 
their  annual  fair  at  Muscogee,  where  many  of  their  leading  men 
were  gathered  together,  all  of  whom  were  known  to  my  companion. 
From  them  we  gained  much  interesting  and  encouraging  informa- 
tion. At  the  fair  there  was  comparatively  little  to  remind  us  where 
we  were.  Citizens  dress  was  universal,  and  a  large  proportion  of 
the  people  might  have  passed  undistinguished  along  Eastern  streets. 
The  exhibition  was  creditable  as  far  as  it  went,  and  bore  evidence 
of  successful  gardening,  farming  and  cattle  raising. 

The  Cherokees  have  a  good  system  of  Government,  consisting  of 
a  Chief,  and  Upper  and  Lower  Houses,  and  an  excellent  code  of 
laws  framed  on  the  model  of  the  United  States  of  America.  Belief 
in  one  God  and  in  future  rewards  and  punishments  is  made  essential 
to  rights  of  citizenship  ;  liberty  of  conscience  is  granted  ;  the  sale  of 
strong  drink  is  prohibited,  and  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath  is 
secured. 

Of  the  tribal  revenue  one  half  is  devoted  to  education  and  the 
support  of  their  orphans.  They  have  81  common  day  schools  with 


Cherokees  and  Creeks.  11 

attendance  varying  from  13  to  40.  In  addition  to  these,  two  high 
schools,  one  for  boys  and  one  for  girls,  are  in  operation  near  Tale- 
quah,  adapted  for  150  each.  These  we  visited.  They  are  large 
brick  buildings  well  situate  and  well  arranged,  and  would  do  credit 
to  an  Eastern  State.  The  girls  school  is  under  the  care  of  an  ex- 
cellent Moravian  minister  supported  by  a  good  staff  of  teachers.  In 
the  good  order  of  the  place,  in  the  dress  of  the  children,  in  the  pre- 
vailing neatness,  cleanliness  and  decorum,  there  was  nothing  but 
what  was  entirely  creditable  to  a  Christian  school.  The  orphan 
institution,  also  for  150,  we  did  not  visit,  but  it  is  said  to  be  on  a 
par  with  the  others.  A  large  asylum  has  lately  been  built  for  the 
blind,  insane,  and  helpless  poor.  The  Cherokees  have  two  news- 
papers, one  published  at  Talequah,  the  other  at  Muscogee.  The 
latter  is  edited  by  Wm.  P.  Ross,  formerly  Chief  of  the  Nation,  an 
intelligent  man,  with  whom  we  had  much  pleasant  intercourse.  The 
former  is  partly  printed  in  the  Cherokee  alphabet,  invented  by  the 
ingenious  Sequoyah.  This  alphabet  consists  of  85  letters,  repre- 
senting all  the  syllabic  sounds  in  the  language,  so  that  when  a  child 
has  mastered  it  he  has  learned  to  read.  Every  full  blood  Cherokee 
is  entitled  to  a  copy  of  this  paper,  and  to  all  others  it  is  sold  at  a 
dollar  a  year,  the  loss  being  made  up  from  the  Treasury.  The 
Cherokee  nation  is  now  professedly  Christian  and  a  large  proportion 
of  the  people  attend  public  worship,  which  is  directed  for  the  most 
part  by  a  native  ministry. 

The  standard  of  Christianity  though  far  from  being  all  we  could 
desire,  is  probably  equal  to  that  of  the  surrounding  States.  The 
bible  is  widely  diffused,  and  many  enjoy  reading  it  in  their  own 
tongue. 

The  Cherokees  are  an  agricultural  people,  supported  by  the  pro- 
duce of  their  lands  and  the  sale  of  their  cattle.  Many  have  large 
farms  and  good  orchards.  All  wear  citizens  dress,  all  live  in  houses, 
and  in  the  better  ones  their  Agent  reports  that  it  is  no  unusual  thing 
to  see  sewing  machines,  and  even  more  costly  articles  of  furniture. 
Thirty-five  years  ago  Commissioners  John  D.  Lang  and  Samuel 
Taylor  visited  this  tribe.  They  say  it  was  then  divided  into  three 


12  Indian  Civilization. 

classes,  the  civilized,  the  apprentices  in  civilization,  and  a  third 
class,  which  was  the  most  numerous,  who  had  made  little  improve- 
ment in  dress  or  manners.  Instead  of  81  schools  there  were  13, 
and  instead  of  the  whole  tribe  professing  Christianity  only  200  did 
so.  Surely  we  must  admit  there  has  been  encouraging  progress  here. 

With  the  Creeks  the  advance  has  not  been  less  marked.  At  the 
time  of  John  D.  Lang's  visit  most  of  them  still  wore  the  blanket, 
few  had  embraced  Christianity,  their  old  dances  were  still  kept  up, 
and  there  was  but  one  school  in  the  nation.  Instead  of  this  solitary 
school  there  are  now  33  day  schools  and  three  boarding  schools. 
We  visited  all  of  the  latter  and  were  exceedingly  pleased  with  them. 
Less  ambitious  and  more  economically  conducted  than  those  of  the 
Cherokees,  they  seemed  to  us  better  adapted  for  the  wants  of  the 
people.  The  Tallahassee  Boarding  School,  started  thirty  years  ago, 
has  been  through  almost  its  whole  history  under  the  charge  of  W.  S. 
Robertson,  a  Presbyterian  minister,  and  his  excellent  wife.  They 
have  about  100  inmates.  In  addition  to  giving  a  good  English 
education  they  give  the  girls  an  industrial,  domestic  education,  sew- 
ing, cooking  and  general  housework  ;  and  the  boys  a  farm  training. 
In  returning  from  the  school  our  driver  ran  into  another  conveyance 
and  broke  ours  badly.  In  an  hour  two  of  the  boys  had  patched  it 
up  strongly  enough  for  us  to  get  on  without  further  trouble  to  our 
destination.  "  We  train  them,"  said  the  Superintendent,  "  to  meet 
such  emergencies  as  this. ' '  With  thankful  satisfaction  he  referred  to 
the  fact  that  their  scholars  turn  out  well,  and  that  most  of  the  rising 
men  among  the  Creeks  had  passed  under  his  care.  Pleasant  Por- 
ter, whom  we  had  heard  make  a  spirited  speech  at  Muscogee,  who 
farms  very  succesfully  200  acres,  and  who  has  often  represented  his 
tribe  at  Washington,  is  one  of  these.  Our  interpreter,  an  agreea- 
ble and  intelligent  young  man,  was  another. 

With  the  Muscogee  Girls'  Institute,  near  Eufala,  we  were  not 
less  gratified.  The  Principal  of  this  school  is  a  Creek,  J.  W.  Ferry- 
man, with  well  developed  Indian  features.  He  has  undertaken  this 
post  from  a  sense  of  duty.  He  is  a  man  well  spoken  of  by  all,  and 
is  an  earnest  and  effective  preacher  in  his  own  tongue.  The  chil- 


Chickasaws  and  Choctaws.  13 

dren  had  made  good  progress  in  their  studies,  some  of  them  were 
doing  Algebra,  others  gave  us  very  correctly  the  cities  of  Italy,  and 
the  scientific  class  were  answering  questions  in  Hydrostatics.  In  a 
long  detention  at  Eufala,  from  an  accident  on  the  line,  we  turned 
into  a  respectable  store  kept  by  an  Indian,  at  whose  comfortable 
home  we  dined.  On  his  shelves  we  found  a  Greek  Lexicon,  and 
copies  of  Caesar,  Virgil,  Horace  and  Xenophon,  and  we  were  told 
that  the  brother  of  our  host  was  really  a  fair  classic  scholar.  Our 
detention  also  gave  us  the  opportunity  of  talking  to  H.  S.  Buck- 
ner,  a  Baptist  missionary,  who  has  worked  among  the  Creeks  most 
of  his  life.  He  spoke  of  them  as  a  church-going  people,  and  thought 
a  larger  proportion  of  them  would  be  found  attending  public  worship 
than  in  the  neighboring  States.  Two  white  missionaries  only  are 
now  employed  among  them,  perhaps  three  or  four  natives  are  as- 
sisted by  missionary  societies,  and  all  the  rest  of  the  preachers  do 
their  work  from  pure  love.  H.  S.  Buckner  itinerates  among  them, 
holding  from  time  to  time  protracted  meetings,  in  connection  with 
which  he  gathers  the  neighboring  preachers  together  and  holds  in  a 
very  simple  way  a  sort  of  school  of  the  prophets.  The  Creeks  find 
much  comfort  in  their  religion,  and  their  death  beds  are  often  happy. 
Their  standard  of  piety  is  fairly  high,  and  they  are  truthful  and 
honest.  Family  worship  is  very  general  among  them.  Like  the 
Cherokees,  they  are  farmers,  and  what  we  saw  gave  us  the  impres- 
sion that  they  were  farming  successfully.  Their  fences  were  ex- 
cellent, and  the  produce  of  their  apple  orchards  could  hardly  be 
surpassed. 

THE  CHICKASAWS  AND  CHOCTAWS. 

The  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws  at  the  time  of  J.  D.  Lang's  visit  in 
1842,  were  few  of  them  professing  Christianity,  and  their  provisions 
for  education  was  extremely  small.  They  have  now  66  district 
schools  with  an  attendance  of  1500  scholars,  and  6  boarding  schools 
with  245  scholars.  The  Choctaws  expend  on  education  from  their 
tribal  funds  $27,000,  the  Chickasaws  $46,000.  The  latter  is  pro- 


14  Indian  Civilization. 

bably  the  largest  sum  per  capita  subscribed  by  any  state  or  nation 
in  the  world  for  educational  purposes,  amounting  to  an  average  of 
$8.00  per  head  for  every  man,  woman  and  child  in  the  community. 

Many  of  the  remarks  made  with  regard  to  the  condition  of  the 
Cherokees  and  Creeks  apply  to  these  tribes,  and  also  to  the  Semi- 
noles.  All  have  adopted  citizens  dress,  I  believe  all  live  in  houses, 
all  make  profession  of  Christianity.  We  had  the  opportunity  of 
meeting  with  the  Choctaw  Council  through  the  kindness  of  their 
Governor,  Coleman  Cole,  a  plain  but  sterling  man.  Several  of  the 
members  of  the  Legislature  are  preachers,  working  without  pay. 
Our  interpreter,  Judge  Folsom,  an  intelligent  man,  is  one  of  these. 
His  brother,  D.  E.  Folsom,  is  an  enterprising  farmer  who  has  400 
acres  under  cultivation  and  owns  5000  head  of  cattle.  He  has  built 
himself  a  good  house  and  is  a  man  of  some  reading,  very  familiar 
with  Shakespeare,  and  quick  to  correct  any  misquotation  from  his 
favorite  author.  The  leading  agriculturist  of  the  Choctaws  is 
named  Wilson  Jones.  He  lives  in  a  good  house,  and  has  500  acres 
of  pasture  and  300  of  arable  land.  A  half  breed  Choctaw  named 
Paul,  has  2000  acres  in  Indian  corn.  The  progress  made  by  all 
these  tribes  is  the  more  encouraging  because  they  were  almost  ruined 
during  the  war.  Their  losses  in  cattle  at  that  time  being  estimated 
at  300,000. 

The  Christianization  and  civilization  of  the  Indians  thus  far  de- 
scribed is  due  chiefly  to  the  labors  of  Methodists,  Baptists,  and 
Presbyterians.  Comparatively  little  assistance  is,  however,  at  the 
present  time,  being  given  by  any  of  these  churches.  I  believe  the  mis- 
sionaries still  in  the  field  are  doing  a  very  valuable  work  and  extend- 
ing help  that  is  needed,  and  I  would  express  my  hope  that  their 
number  may  be  increased  rather  than  diminished. 

INDIANS  UNDER  THE  CARE  OF  THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS. 

I  come  now  to  speak  of  the  work  carried  on  under  the  care  of  the 
Society  of  Friends.  The  Indians  under  their  charge  are  divided 
into  eight  Agencies.  The  Kiowas,  Comanches  and  Apaches,  all 


Indians  under  Care  of  Society  of  Friends.      15 

under  the  charge  of  James  Haworth  ;  the  Wichitas,  Caddoes,  &c., 
under  Andrew  Williams  ;  the  Cheyennes  and  Arapahoes  under  John 
D.  Miles.  These  three  Agencies  are  in  the  southwest  part  of  the 
Indian  Territory,  and  include  a  population  of  8000. 

The  Osage  and  Kaw  Agency  is  under  the  care  of  Cyrus  Beede ; 
the  Pawnee,  at  the  time  of  our  visit,  under  William  Burgess  ;  and  the 
Sac  and  Fox,  including  also  Kickapoos,  Shawnees,  and  some  Potta- 
watomies,  under  Levi  Woodard.  These  are  situated  to  the  west  of 
the  Cherokee  and  Creek  reserves,  and  include  a  population  of  7,200. 
The  Quapaw  Agency  in  the  northeast  corner  of  the  Territory,  in- 
cludes Wyandottes,  Senecas,  and  several  smaller  tribes,  to  the  num- 
ber of  1400,  and  is  under  charge  of  Hiram  W.  Jones.  About  1000 
Pottawatomies  and  Kickapoos,  &c.,  form  a  separate  Agency  in  the 
northwest  of  Kansas  under  Mahlon  Newlin. 

I  do  not  wish  to  overburden  you  with  figures,  but  carefully  pre- 
pared statistics  are  often  the  most  telling  facts,  and  I  do  not  know  how 
better  to  show  the  progress  that  has  been  made  than  by  the  follow- 
ing table,  which  exhibits  the  comparative  condition  of  the  Indians 
in  1868  and  1875. 

1868.  1875. 

Schools      ......  4  15 

Sabbath  Shools            ....  13 

Scholars     ......  105  836 

Houses      ......    not  reported  1042 

Acres  cultivated          ....  3,220  I4>5°° 

Corn,  bushels 31,700  320,000 

Wheat     " 633  28,000 

Oats        " 5,930 

Potatoes,  bushels        ....  !,77O  17,100 

Hay,  tons           .....  750  5 ,000 

Horses  owned    .....  17,924  25,921 

Cattle 640  6,580 

Hogs 1,074  12,268 

Last  year  there  was  a  further  increase  in  the  number  of  schools 
and  houses  and  in  the  quantity  of  land  under  cultivation,  but  owing 
to  the  season  being  less  favorable  the  produce  was  rather  smaller. 


16  Indian  Civilization. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  between  1868  and  1875,  crops  and  herds 
had  both  increased  ten  fold,  while  the  advance  in  the  provision  for 
education  and  suitable  dwellings  was  not  less  satisfactory.  It  would 
be  tedious  to  attempt  to  describe  the  condition  of  all  these  tribes  in 
detail.  I  will  select  specimen  instances. 


WICHITA  AGENCY. 

The  greatest  advance  appeared  to  me  to  have  been  gained  in  the 
Wichita  and  Quapaw  Agencies.  When  Friends  assumed  the  charge 
of  the  former  in  1870,  scarcely  anything  had  been  done.  There 
was  no  school,  and  the  tribes,  if  not  quite  like  the  wild  Indians  of  the 
plains,  were  not  many  degrees  above  them.  Through  patient  and 
well  directed  efforts  a  very  different  state  of  things  has  been  brought 
about.  It  was  after  travelling  a  day's  journey  from  the  Kiowa 
Agency,  and  on  descending  into  the  valley  of  the  Washita,  that  we 
came  in  sight  of  the  Agency  buildings.  They  are  situated  about  a 
mile  from  the  river,  on  the  slope  of  a  wooded  bluff  which  screens 
them  from  the  north.  The  school  building  stands  out  prominently, 
a  two  storied  house  with  two  wings,  well  adapted  for  the  reception 
of  100  pupils.  The  Agent's  house,  a  neat  frame  building,  office 
and  other  appointments,  lie  to  the  right ;  the  Engineer's  house,  the 
house  of  the  Physician,  and  one  or  two  others  to  the  left.  In  the 
fertile  valley  below  is  the  Agency  farm ;  farther  to  the  left  is  the 
saw  mill,  and  beyond,  the  farms  of  the  Indians,  whose  little  houses 
are  sheltered  by  the  wood  and  by  the  cliff.  The  old  Indian  hut  is 
fast  being  replaced  by  log  houses,  and  of  these  103  are  already  built. 
We  called  on  Wahloope,  a  Caddo  Chief.  Five  years  ago  this  man 
attended  the  meeting  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  Friends,  at 
Lawrence.  He  said  to  them,  "I  have  come  from  a  long  way  off.  I 
came  to  find  a  good  way  for  my  people.  We  want  you  to  try  hard 
to  help  us  into  that  good  way.  We  do  not  want  to  do  like  some 
other  tribes,  who  delight  in  killing  and  destroying ;  we  want  to  learn 
how  to  build  houses,  raise  corn,  and  provide  for  our  wives  and  chil- 
dren, that  they  may  be  happy.  I  know  my  young  men  will  be  ready 


Wichita  ^Agency.  17 

to  do  their  part  in  building  houses  and  farms,  and  trying  to  be  good. 
Many  of  the  wild  Indians  also  will  visit  me  to  hear  my  words,  and 
see  my  place.  If  I  have  a  good  house  and  farm,  comfortable  clothes, 
and  a  happy  family,  it  will  have  a  great  influence  on  them  to  turn 
them  into  the  white  man's  path,  to  peace  and  civilization."  He 
went  on  to  ask  that  they  might  be  protected  from  white  intruders, 
and  especially  from  the  curse  of  whiskey.  The  promise  of  this 
speech  has  been  faithfully  kept.  Not  only  have  about  half  this  people 
adopted  the'white  man's  dress,  and  the  white  man's  style  of  house, 
but  they  have  brought  into  cultivation  1,700  acres,  and 'are  rapidly 
becoming  self  supporting.  For  a  considerable  period  before  the 
time  of  our  visit,  the  issue  of  rations  had  been  confined  to  beef  and 
salt,  and  they  had  been  grinding  corn  for  the  Indians  at  the  Agency 
mill  at  the  rate  of  80  bushels  a  week. 

For  an  account  of  the  commencement  of  the  Wichita  school  I 
may  refer  to  Thomas  Battey's  book,  "A  Quaker  among  the 
Indians. ' '  The  small  school  of  six  or  eight  untamed  children  whom 
he  describes,  has  now  become  an  orderly  company  of  100.  They  are 
under  the  charge  of  two  English  brothers,  who,  with  their  sister,  are 
pursuing  the  work  with  much  energy,  enthusiasm  and  success.  Their 
reading,  spelling,  and  arithmetic  were  all  good,  and  their  writing 
excellent.  S.  A.  Galpin  remarks  of  the  Kiowa  school  that  the  pen- 
manship is  superior  to  white  schools  of  corresponding  grades.  Still 
more  is  this  the  case  at  the  Wichita  school,  and  many  specimens  of 
drawing  shown  us  were  very  creditable.  They  had  a  fair  grounding 
in  grammar,  and  were  well  posted  in  the  main  features  of  the  geo- 
graphy of  the  United  States  and  of  Europe,  they  answered  Scripture 
questions  readily,  and  repeated  the  Ten  Commandments  and  some 
other  passages.  The  teachers  seem  to  enjoy  their  work  heartily, 
thay  find  the  children  tractable,  and  decidedly  easier  to  manage 
than  as  many  whites.  In  answer  to  my  question  as  to  what  was  their 
greatest  difficulty  with  them,  they  said,  that  since  they  cured  them 
of  running  away,  they  had  no  difficulty  to  speak  of.  The  girls  do 
the  bulk  of  the  housework  and  soon  become  handy.  They  are  also 

taught  needle  work. 
2 


18  Indian  Civilization. 

I  wish  I  could  give  you  the  picture  of  our  meeting  for  worship 
with  them  on  the  Sabbath  Day.  The  body  of  the  school  room  was 
filled  with  the  children,  looking  clean  and  neat,  nicely  dressed,  and 
their  long  black  hair  well  combed.  On  the  platform  were  the  Agent 
and  his  family,  the  teachers  and  employees,  the  Chiefs,  the  inter- 
preter and  ourselves.  Round  the  room  Indians  stood,  sat.  or 
squatted  \  many  of  them  decked  out  with  their  ornaments,  of  which 
these  tribes  are  especially  fond.  The  worship  was  solemn,  the  be- 
havior and  attention  all  that  we  could  wish.  Wahloope  addressed 
them,  and  so  did  Black  Bear,  a  Delaware  Chief,  who  also  offered  in 
his  own  language  a  very  feeling  prayer.  I  give  a  portion  of  his 
sermon. 

"Life  with  us  all  is  getting  shorter.  I  remember  when  the 
Caddoes  had  large  towns,  and  the  Delawares,  and  the  Wacoes.  Now 
we  are  few.  And  why  is  this  ?  It  is  for  our  sins,  my  brothers,  for 
our  sins.  I  fear  the  displeasure  of  the  Lord ;  but  when  I  see  our 
children  well  taught  I  hope  again.  Let  none  say  it  is  too  late  to 
turn  to  God.  Let  none  say  it  is  too  soon."  Those  who  have 
watched  Black  Beaver's  character  speak  of  him  as  a  true  Christian 
man. 

In  the  evening  we  had  a  still  larger  meeting,  some  of  them  coming 
four,  six  and  even  twelve  miles.  One  of  the  lads  of  the  school  lately 
employed  the  leisure  hours  of  his  vacation  in  reading  the  New  Testa- 
ment right  through.  Another  who  had  left  school  and  'opened  a 
store,  wrote  a  letter  which  was  shown  me.  It  was  well  written  and 
expressed.  Though  he  had  begun  to  trade,  he  said,  he  was  not  going 
to  let  that  hinder  him  from  serving  God.  He  meant  to  continue  to 
follow  and  obey  Him.  More  knowledge  had  been  given  to  him  than 
to  some  of  his  red  brethren  and  he  wished  to  use  it  to  help  them. 
He  was  planning  a  religious  journey  with  a  minister  from  another 
tribe,  for  whom  he  was  going  to  interpret. 

Among  the  Sac  and  Foxes  we  found  another  young  man  similarly 
disposed.  Through  his  influence  many  had  been  led  to  make  an 
.open  profession  of  religion,  and  he  had  gathered  a  church  in  his 
.house,  with  whom  we  mingled  to  our  comfort. 


Quapaw  ^Agency.  19 

QUAPAW  AGENCY. 

I  can  speak  in  as  encouraging  terms  of  the  Quapaw  Agency  as  1 
have  done  of  the  Wichita.  Here,  as  among  the  Cherokees,  all  live 
in  houses  and  all  wear  citizens  dress.  This  little  community  of  1,400 
individuals  last  year  had  6,700  acres  under  cultivation,  and  raised 
78,000  bushels  of  corn.  Many  of  the  Senecas  especially,  have  good 
farms,  probably  on  a  par  with  any  in  the  Territory.  We  were  also 
much  pleased  with  the  appearance  of  those  on  the  Ottawa  and 
Peoria  reserves,  where  a  commencement  had  scarcely  been  made 
seven  years  ago,  and  now  there  are  large  well  farmed  fields  and  good 
frame  houses.  But  perhaps  no  tribe  has  made  more  astonishing  pro- 
gress than  the  Modocs.  The  war  with  this  tribe  and  the  treacherous 
assassination  of  Gen.  Canby,  are  fresh  in  our  remembrance.  We 
recall  the  long  and  determined  resistance  in  the  lava  beds,  which 
cost  the  United  States  a  larger  number  of  their  troops  than  there 
were  Indians  in  the  tribe,  and  how  Capt.  Jack  and  his  followers  were 
at  last  wearied  out  rather  than  conquered.  The  terrible  sufferings  of 
those  dark  days  the  Modoc  children  even  now  can  hardly  be  per- 
suaded to  refer  to.  Removed  to  the  Territory  late  in  1873,  tne 
remnant  of  the  tribe  have  displayed  in  peace  much  of  the  same 
energy  and  determination  they  displayed  in  war.  They  show  a 
decided  disposition  to  work,  and  are  raising  corn  and  cattle.  Bogus 
Charley,  the  Chief,  put  up  a  good  sized  house  for  himself,  and  when 
it  was  finished  built  a  still  better  one  for  his  ponies.  Steamboat 
Frank,  another  prominent  member  of  the  tribe,  was  repairing  his 
chimney  when  we  called  to  have  an  interview  with  such  of  the  tribe 
as  could  be  collected  under  his  roof.  They  told  us  they  felt  leaving 
their  own  country  in  Oregon,  but  they  tried  not  to  think  of  it,  and 
wanted  to  settle  down  here.  They  liked  our  talk,  and  it  was  their 
wish  to  live  so  as  to  please  the  Great  Spirit.  All  their  children  are 
sent  to  school  where  they  learn  readily,  are  easily  satisfied,  and  give 
very  little  trouble. 

At  the  Quapaw  and  Wyandotte  Missions  are  good  boarding 
schools,  where  60  and  100  children  respectively,  are  taught.  In  the 


20  Indian  Civilization. 

one  school  the  children  read  well  in  the  Fifth  Reader,  and  in  the 
other  they  were  using  as  a  reading  book,  an  elementary  History  of 
the  United  States.  They  defined  words  creditably,  worked  sums 
in  reduction  and  decimals,  and  showed  equal  proficiency  in  mental 
arithmetic.  The  industrial  training,  so  excellently  given  by  the 
Creeks,  is  adopted  here ;  the  boys  are  taught  to  farm  and  the  girls 
to  do  housework  and  sewing.  In  both  schools  much  pains  has  been 
taken  to  impart  religious  instruction,  and  the  children  answered 
bible  questions  well.  I  was  at  the  Quapaw  Mission  at  Christmas 
and  thoroughly  enjoyed  my  visit.  Kind  friends  in  New  York  and 
Baltimore  had  thought  of  the  Indian  children,  and  wishing  to  make 
them  happy  at  this  festive  season,  sent  them  many  presents.  A  fir 
tree  was  brought  from  the  forest,  the  top  of  which  touched  the 
ceiling,  and  its  branches  spread  half  across  the  room.  To  these  the 
presents  were  attached  and  the  tree  was  lighted  up  with  many  tapers. 
The  smaller  children  sat  on  the  floor  beneath  its  boughs,  and  the 
larger  ones  round  the  room.  Several  of  the  parents  and  other  in- 
terested friends  were  present.  They  sang  their  simple  hymns  and 
listened  attentively  while  we  spoke  to  them.  It  would  have  done 
the  hearts  of  the  kind  donors  good  to  have  seen  how  the  little  swarthy 
faces  brightened  as  the  treasures  were  handed  down.  Several  of  the 
older  girls  had  made  useful  presents  for  each  other,  and  their  English 
visitor  received  a  motto  beautifully  worked  by  eight  girls,  in  colored 
silk.  The  words  were  "In  God  We  Trust." 

Religious  services  are  kept  up  at  six  points  in  this  Agency,  three 
of  which  are  under  the  charge  of  Indian  preachers.  We  held  meet- 
ings ourselves  at  several  points.  At  the  Ottawa  school-house  two 
Indians  addressed  the  company.  One  of  these  encouraged  the 
boys  of  the  school  who  \vere  present,  by  commending  their  good 
conduct.  He  was  their  near  neighbor,  and  could  say  that  they 
gave  him  no  trouble,  and  that  he  never  missed  so  much  as  an  apple 
from  his  orchard.  Some  people,  he  continued,  complained  of 
their  present  lot.  They  remembered  the  old  times  when  all  the 
land  was  theirs,  and  there  was  abundance  of  game.  But  if  the  white 
man  had  taken  away  some  things  he  had  brought  them  others. 


The  Wild  Tribes.  21 

Through  him  they  had  received  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God  and 
of  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  and  some  of  them  felt  they  could  part 
with  every  thing  for  the  sake  of  this.  Our  friends  in  the  Quapaw 
Agency  have  had  many  cheering  evidences  of  blessing  in  their  re- 
ligious work.  When  Asa  and  Emmeline  Tuttle  came  here  seven 
years  ago,  the  Ottawas  were  in  a  very  degraded  state  and  sadly  in- 
temperate, but  through  their  faithful  labors,  sobriety  has  been  re- 
stored and  the  church  revived.  They  found  a  ready  helper  in 
Judge  Wynd,  chief  of  the  tribe,  a  spiritually  minded  man,  who  has 
left  a  good  name.  An  interesting  illustration  of  the  words  "sor- 
rowful yet  rejoicing,"  was  lately  furnished  in  this  neighborhood  by 
an  Indian,  who  soon  after  his  conversion  was  laid  by  with  severe 
illness.  His  body  was  racked  with  pain,  but  his  mind  was  at  rest. 
"  While  one  half  of  me,"  he  said,  "is  suffering  very  much,  the  other 
half  is  very  glad. ' '  The  Agent  told  me  with  much  satisfaction  of  the 
evidence  of  right  principle  in  these  Indians  in  the  earnest  desire  they 
had  shown  to  clear  off  their  debts  ;  all  the  more  commendable,  be- 
cause a  large  sum  due  to  them  from  a  religious  denomination,  on 
the  expected  payment  of  which  they  had  gone  in  debt  themselves, 
was  still  unpaid. 


THE  WILD  TRIBES. 

Thus  far  I  have  spoken  of  tribes  which  have  been  the  longest  un- 
der the  care  of  Friends,  and  who  had  to  some  extent  been  under 
civilizing  influences  before  they  took  charge  of  them.  We  will  now 
inquire,  what  has  been  the  result  of  work  among  the  Indians  of  the 
plains,  the  wild  warlike  tribes  of  the  Southwest ;  the  Kiowas  and 
Comanches,  Cheyennes  and  Arapahoes,  whose  raids  into  Texas  were 
the  terror  of  the  frontier  settlements,  and  at  last  brought  down 
upon  them  the  strong  arm  of  the  military.  Here,  as  yet  few  of  the 
Indians  have  made  any  profession  of  the  Christian  faith,  and  scarcely 
to  any  extent  have  we  succeeded  in  inducing  them  to  forego  their 
old  style  of  dress  and  mode  of  dwelling.  Their  subsistence  is  also 
in  the  main  still  supplied  by  the  Government,  and  the  remainder  is 


'22  Indian  Civilization. 

procured  by  hunting.  But  there  is  an  altered  sentiment  in  the  tribes. 
The  same  people  who  a  short  time  ago  were  utterly  averse  to  edu- 
cation, are  now  desirous  that  all  their  children  should  be  sent  to 
school.  Warriors  who  cared  for  nothing  but  war  and  the  chase, 
have  become  men  of  peace.  Those  who  scorned  the  idea  of  culti- 
vating the  soil,  are  clamoring  for  ploughs  and  spades.  "  We  like 
your  talk,"  said  Little  Crow,  the  Comanche  chief,  after  our  con- 
ference with  his  tribe.  "We  want  to  live  in  peace,  we  want  to 
grow  corn,  raise  cattle,  have  our  children  taught,  and  take  the 
white  man's  road.  This  is  the  mind  of  us  all."  "We  are  not 
going  to  think  of  war  any  more,"  said  Big  Mouth,  the  stalwart  chief 
of  the  Arapahoes,  after  hugging  us  in  his  strong  arms.  "  The  Sioux 
are  foolish  to  think  of  fighting.  Let  them  come  and  live  peaceably 
in  the  Indian  Territory.  I  can  say  of  all  here,  they  are  my  broth- 
ers ;  give  us  ploughs  and  let  us  get  to  work. ' ' 

His  neighbor,  Big  Horse,  the  Cheyenne  chief,  less  energetic  in 
his  eloquence,  has  been  more  so  in  his  example.  He  approved  all 
we  said.  He  had  been  doing  his  best  to  persuade  his  people  to 
take  the  white  man's  road.  He  begged  that  the  Government  would 
keep  their  word  with  them,  and  let  them  have  not  only  food  duly 
delivered  according  to  promise,  but  also  wagons  and  implements  of 
husbandry.  This  was  the  burden  of  every  speech.  Col.  Misner,  of 
the  Cheyenne  Fort,  was  admiring  a  medal  that  had  been  presented 
to  another  chief  named  Whirlwind,  a  man  of  considerable  native 
force.  "  Yes,"  was  the  reply,  "  its  a  nice  medal,  but  I  can't  under- 
stand one  thing.  You  see,  'he  said,'  pointing  to  the  devices  on  it, 
it  shows  ploughs  and  spades  and  hoes,,  and  Washington  promised 
he  would  send  a  heap  of  them.  They  have  never  come,  and  we 
think  our  Great  Father  ought  to  keep  his  word." 

With  what  implements  they  had  they  have  gone  to  work.  The 
193  acres  under  cultivation  at  the  Kiowa  Agency  in  1874,  became 
503  in  1876,  and  the  yield  of  corn  advanced  from  1000  to  5000 
bushels. 

At  the  Cheyenne  Agency  50  acres  became  423,  and  the  yield  was 
7080  bushels.  So  anxious  were  they  to  make  a  beginning,  that  in 


The  Wild  Tribes..  23 

default  of  better  implements,  axes  and  sticks  have  been  used  to  stir 
the  ground. 

A  proposal  made  by  J.  D.  Miles,  that  they  should  earn  the  arti- 
cles they  wanted,  by  becoming  the  freighters  of  their  own  supplies, 
was  entered  into  very  warmly  by  the  tribes,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped 
the  Government  will  be  disposed  to  accede  to  it;*  they  need  and 
desire  employment.  The  tide  now  sets  strongly  in  favor  of  civiliza- 
tion, and  if  we  are  wise  we  shall  take  it  while  it  is  full.  An  hour's 
guidance  to  day  may  be  worth  all  the  persuasion  and  effort  of  to- 
morrow. 

But  it  is  in  the  schools  that  the  greatest  hope  lies,  and  the  greatest 
triumphs  have  been  won.  A  year  and  a  half  ago  Alfred  Standing 
commenced  his  work  at  the  Kiowa  School.  The  children  came  in 
total  ignorance ;  none  of  them  knew  a  word  of  English ;  and  their 
teacher  was  equally  unacquainted  with  their  languages.  The  pro- 
gress that  has  been  made  is  surprising.  They  are  reading  in  the 
Second  and  Third  Readers ;  they  spelt  words  of  4  letters,  writing 
them  on  their  slate,  and  getting  9,  10  and  n  right  out  of  the  dozen. 
They  worked  correctly  short  sums  in  addition,  and  counted  up  to 
100  in  English  and  in  their  own  tongues.  In  writing  they  showed 
greater  proficiency  than  in  anything  else.  The  children  behave 
well,  and  their  teachers  find  them  willing  and  obedient ;  they  are 
happy  and  rarely  have  any  quarrels.  Great  pains  are  taken  to  in- 
struct the  girls  in  sewing,  and  the  boys  are  set  to  work.  So  anxious 
were  the  Indians  to  have  their  children  taken  in,  that  the  premises 
have  been  stretched  to  their  utmost  capacity.  The  girls  sleep  in 
the  house ;  the  boys  in  a  draughty  lean-to  put  up  in  a  very  tempo- 
rary way,  and  where  their  hammocks  are  arranged  in  two  tiers  one 
over  the  other.  The  agent,  Jas.  M.  Haworth,  says  the  hardest  work 
he  ever  has  to  do,  is  to  turn  a  child  away  because  there  is  no  room. 
At  the  close  of  the  first  session,  when  the  parents  came  for  their 
children,  he  told  them  how  thankful  he  was  to  be  able  to  restore 

*  A  clause  in  the  last  Appropriation  Bill    makes  the   needed  provision  for 
freighting  by  Indians. 


24:  Indian  Civilization. 

them  all  in  good  health,  and  that  they  had  had  no  sickness  to  speak 
of  the  whole  term. 

Horse-Back,  a  Comanche  Chief,  replied,  speaking  very  gratefully 
of  the  kind  care  the  children  had  received,  and  also  acknowledging 
his  gratitude  to  a  higher  power.  The  interpreter  asked  him  if  he 
was  thinking  of  the  sun.  "No,"  he  said,  "we  must  look  higher 
than  that,  to  the  Great  Spirit  who  made  the  sun." 

I  think  we  may  here  see  the  evidence  of  the  good  influence  of  the 
religious  meetings  that  have  been  held,  and  of  which  James  Haworth 
writes  :  "Besides  our  regular  morning  meeting  which  many  Indians 
attend,  it  has  been  our  custom  to  have  one  meeting  each  Sabbath 
for  religious  instruction  especially  for  the  benefit  of  the  adult  Indians, 
in  which  they  have  manifested  very  great  interest,  both  in  attendance 
and  attention  ;  and  instead  of  fleeing  with  fright,  or  trembling  with 
superstitious  fears,  as  they  did  a  year  or  two  ago  when  the  guidance 
and  blessing  of  the  Great  Spirit  was  invoked,  they  bow  their  heads 
in  reverence  and  in  some  cases  respond  with  deep  feeling. ' ' 

Here  I  may  introduce  an  extract  from  a  letter  received  last  month 
from  the  same  earnest  worker. 

"  One  of  the  best  meetings  we  have  had  was  last  Sabbath  in  White 
Wolfs  camp.  When  we  drove  up  we  found  the  prairie  on  fire  and 
his  corral  burning.  He  and  several  of  his  people  were  trying  to 
extinguish  the  fire  and  we  got  down  and  helped  them.  After  getting 
it  out  I  told  him  of  the  good  meeting  we  had  in  the  morning  and 
that  we  had  come  to  have  one  in  his  camp  if  he  was  willing,  but  I 
supposed  after  working  so  hard  they  would  be  tired  and  we  had 
better  defer  it.  '  No,  no/  he  said,  e  come  now. '  They  soon  collected 
the  people  and  we  had  a  blessed  time.  We  spoke  of  the  scene  we 
had  just  taken  part  in  ;  the  heart  was  compared  to  the  corral  and 
sin  to  the  consuming  fire.  The  application  was  quickly  understood. 
White-Wolf  replied,  <  he  did  not  formerly  think  much  about  these 
things  and  never  had  made  such  a  talk  as  he  was  going  to  make  now. 
He  had  been  thinking  for  some  time  and  asking  the  Great  Spirit  to 
guide  his  mind  aright  and  to  give  him  a  good  heart.  He  wanted 
to  travel  on  the  road  that  would  lead  him  to  the  happy  home  of  the 


The  Wild  Tribes.  25 

Great  Spirit,  and  not  to  go  on  the  road  that  would  lead  him  to  the 
home  of  misery  of  the  Great  Bad  Spirit.  What  had  been  said  was 
for  their  good,  and  by  following  it  they  would  be  happier.  Every 
night  and  morning  he  asked  the  Great  Spirit  to  have  mercy  on  him 
and  his  people,  and  to  show  them  what  he  wanted  them  to  do.'  He 
spoke  with  great  earnestness  and  his  eyes  filled  with  tears.  I  walked 
towards  him,  clasped  his  hand  in  mine  and  called  him  my  brother. 
He  put  his  arms  around  me  and  pressed  me  to  his  breast  as  also  did  the. 
others.  This  man  till  lately,  has  been  one  of  the  worst  of  the  bad. 
We  know  not  the  depth  of  his  convictions  nor  what  the  future  may 
reveal,  but  all  agreed  that  he  acted  as  one  deeply  feeling  what  he 
did." 

The  Cheyenne  school  which  numbered  only  35  scholars  in  1874, 
now  has  112;  an  extensive  and  well  planned  enlargement  of  the 
school  buildings  having  been  recently  made.  Industrial  training  is 
the  speciality  of  this  school.  In  3d  month,  1875,  Homer  Segur 
began  his  experiment  of  a  school  farm.  Eleven  Arapahoe  boys  were 
persuaded  to  set  to  work  and  stood  to  it  manfully  through  the  deri- 
sion of  the  young  braves  and  the  jeers  of  the  squaws.  They  planted 
50  acres,  and  realized  a  crop  of  600  bushels  of  corn,  20  bushels  of 
potatoes,  100  wagon  loads  of  pumpkins,  and  40  loads  of  water 
melons.  The  lads  received  the  whole  crop  in  payment  for  their 
services,  and  the  proceeds  were  expended  half  in  clothing  for  them, 
and  half  in  cattle.  Last  year  the  Cheyenne  lads  were  quite  ready 
to  join  also.  They  cultivated  120  acres,  getting  nearly  30  bushels 
of  corn  to  the  acre,  and  raising  an  abundant  and  varied  supply  of 
vegetables  for  the  school  table.  The  boys  now  own  29  cows  and 
calves,  1 8  pigs  and  40  young  ones,  and  take  great  interest  in  caring 
for  their  stock.  The  girls  make  the  bread,  cook,  keep  the  rooms 
in  order  and  mend  the  clothes.  Odd  jobs  are  found  for  the  little 
ones,  such  as  keeping  the  gardens  free  from  caterpillars  and  grubs. 
The  appearance  of  the  children,  as  might  be  expected  from  those 
kept  so  well  employed,  is  thoroughly  cheerful,  and  they  enter  heartily 
into  the  new  games  their  teachers  have  introduced. 


26  Indian  Civilization. 

GENERAL  SURVEY  OF  THE  QUESTION. 

Thus  far  I  have  spoken  of  what  I  have  seen.  The  facts  I  have 
related  have  been  gathered  on  the  spot.  In  the  words  of  another 
visitor  to  the  same  field  when  giving  a  similar  account  :  "I  know 
what  I  have  written  is  no  fancy  sketch.  It  is  a  joyful  reality." 
These  things  demonstrate  not  only  that  the  civilization  and  chris- 
tianization  of  the  Indians  is  hopeful,  but  that  in  many  instances  it 
has  become  an  accomplished  fact.  Much  more  might  be  said.  Let 
it  be  remembered  that  a  great  deal  of  successful  work  has  been  done 
outside  the  limits  of  the  Indian  Territory.  I  would  gladly  have 
referred  in  detail  to  the  work  in  Nebraska,  pursued  in  some  respects 
under  greater  difficulties  than  ours,  and  have  told  you  of  wise 
measures  adopted  there,  through  which  Indians  who  8  years  ago 
were  untamed  savages  have  become  the  proprietors  of  comfortable 
homes.  I  could  have  told  you  how  the  Senecas  of  the  Cattaraugus 
Reservation  in  New  York,  are  now  taking  their  place  by  their  white 
neighbors;  that  their  farms  and  stocks  compare  favorably,  and  their 
daughters  are  going  out  to  teach  in  district  schools.  I  could  have 
dwelt  on  the  successful  missionary  work  of  the  Methodists  in  the 
Round  Valley  Reservation,  California,  where  out  of  a  population 
of  1000,  the  Agent  is  able  to  report  that  he  has  not  heard  an  oath 
or  seen  a  case  of  intoxication,  for  two  years. 

Especially  should  I  have  enjoyed  describing  the  remarkable  re- 
sults of  the  work  of  the  Missionary  Bishops,  Whipple  and  Hare,  in 
Minnesota,  Dakota  and  Nebraska. 

INDIANS  IN  CANADA. 

Time  forbids,  but  before  leaving  this  branch  of  the  subject,  I 
must  very  briefly  allude  to  the  success  that  has  attended  the  policy 
pursued  in  Canada.  The  Indians  of  the  British  Dominions  are,  in 
proportion  to  the  population,  three  times  as  numerous  as  the  Indians 
of  the  States  are  to  theirs ;  yet  while  the  United  States  have  had 
almost  constant  wars,  on  the  other  side  of  the  St.  Lawrence  there 


Indians  in  Canada.  27 

has  been  constant  peace.  Through  the  kindness  of  a  former  Indian 
Commissioner,  William  Welsh,  of  Philadelphia,  access  has  been 
given  me  to  the  valuable  evidence  furnished  by  J.  T.  Gilkison,  for 
14  years  Visiting  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs  in  Canada,  who 
has  had  under  his  direct  charge  3,300  of  the  Mohawks,  Senecas  and 
other  tribes.* 

The  following  are  some  of  the  questions  put  to  him,  together  with 
his  replies. 

"  Have  you  ever  known  or  heard  of  any  case,  during  this  century, 
where  the  whites  had  any  reason  to  fear  incursions  from  the  Indians." 

Ans.  "No  such  occurrence  has  ever  taken  place  in  Canada 
within  that  period.  Their  relations  have  been  friendly;  the  Indians 
being  treated  with  consideration  and  kindness." 

"Do  you  consider  the  Indians  have  perfect  confidence  in  their 
just  treatment  by  the  Government?" 

Ans.      ' '  Most  assuredly. ' ' 

"  Do  they  believe  that  whatever  is  coming  to  them  will  be  re- 
ceived, without  losing  weight  or  value  by  passing  through  the 
Agents  of  Government?" 

Ans.  "  Certainly ;  clear  statements  of  accounts  are  furnished  them 
half  yearly,  so  that  they  may  know  what  is  due. ' ' 

While  treated  as  wards,  and  receiving  as  such  exceptional  care 
and  assistance,  the  Indians  of  Canada  are  looked  upon  as  a  part  of 
the  Nation,  having  rights  as  much  entitled  to  respect  as  those  of 
any  other  class.  The  cupidity  of  land  speculators,  and  the  rapacity 
of  frontier  bush-rangers,  are  never  allowed  to  override  their  claims. 
Suitable  reserves,  once  set  apart  are  thenceforth  sacred.  They 
cannot  be  sold  without  the  voluntary  consent  of  a  majority  of  the 
male  adults  by  special  vote,  and  with  the  approval  of  the  Govern- 
ment, which  approval  would  be  withheld  unless  a  change  was  evi- 
dently for  their  benefit.  The  Government  have  never  attempted  to 
force  the  Indians  to  surrender  their  lands. 

Added  to  these  excellent  regulations,  they  enjoy  the  benefit  of 
equal  laws.  They  are  punished  for  crimes  and  protected  from  injury, 

*  See  Appendix. 


28  Indian  Civilization. 

just  as  others.  Thus  treated,  we  are  not  surprised  to  find  that  they 
give  no  more  trouble  than  an  equal  number  of  the  whites  of  the 
lower  classes.  Their  condition  steadily  improves,  and  the  popula- 
tion of  some  tribes  is  on  the  increase.  The  Christian  religion,  being 
commended  to  them  by  justice  and  kindness,  they  are  disposed  to 
accept  it. 

"Confidence  begot  of  faith  kept,  and  justice  observed,  has  ever 
been  and  will  ever  be,  we  trust,"  so  say  the  people  of  Canada,  "  the 
bond  of  union  between  us  and  our  red  children." 

I  need  not  remind  you  in  how  different  a  spirit  the  Indians  of  the 
United  States  have  been  often  met.  It  would  be  an  ungracious  task 
for  me  to  attempt  to  go  over  the  sad  story  of  their  wrongs,  perhaps 
an  unfitting  one,  since  my  own  nation  has  too  seldom  been  clear- 
handed  in  these  matters ;  neither  could  I  hope  to  say  anything  half 
as  forcible  as  what  has  been  already  said  by  Bishop  Whipple  in  his 
letter  to  the  New  York  Tribune  of  last  winter.*  I  trust  that  his  in- 
dignant protest  against  wrong  doing,  and  his  earnest  pleas  for  justice, 
mercy  and  truth,  will  not  have  been  made  in  vain. 

Sioux  COMMISSION  REPORT. 

In  this  connection  I  will  only  further  quote  the  words  with  which 
the  Sioux  Commission  close  their  Report,  dated  from  Washington, 
the  i8th  of  1 2th  month,  1876. 

"It  is  an  eternal  law  of  the  government  of  God  that  whatsoever 
a  nation  sows,  that  and  nothing  but  that,  shall  it  reap.  If  we  sow 
broken  faith,  injustice,  and  wrong,  we  shall  reap  in  the  future,  as 
we  have  reaped  in  the  past,  a  harvest  of  sorrow  and  blood.  We  are 
not  simply  dealing  with  a  poor  perishing  race ;  we  are  dealing  with 
God.  We  cannot  afford  to  delay  longer  fulfilling  our  bounded  duty 
to  those  from  whom  we  have  taken  that  country,  the  possession  of 
which  has  placed  us  in  the  forefront  of  the  nations  of  the  earth.  We 
make  it  our  boast  that  our  country  is  the  home  of  the  oppressed  of 
all  lands.  Dare  we  forget  that  there  are  also  those  whom  we  have 

'*  See  Appendix. 


(Popular  ^Responsibility.  29 

made  homeless,  and  to  whom  we  are  bound  to  give  protection  and 
care? 

"We  are  aware  that  many  of  our  people  think  that  the  only  solu- 
tion of  the  Indian  problem  is  in  their  extermination.  We  would 
remind  such  persons  that  there  is  only  One  who  can  exterminate. 
There  are  too  many  graves  within  our  borders  over  which  the  grass 
has  hardly  grown,  for  us  to  forget  that  God  is  just.  The  Indian  is 
a  savage,  but  he  is  also  a  man.  He  is  capable  of  civilization.  Amid 
all  the  obstacles,  the  wrongs,  and  evils  of  our  Indian  policy,  there 
are  no  missions  which  show  richer  rewards.  Thousands  of  this 
poor  race,  who  were  once  as  degraded  as  the  wild  Sioux,  are  to-day 
civilized  men,  living  by  the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  and  sharing  with 
us  those  blessings  which  give  to  men  home,  country  and  freedom. 
There  is  no  reason  why  these  men  may  not  also  be  led  out  of  dark- 
ness to  light.  If  the  men  of  past  generations  had  reasoned  as  this 
generation  reasons,  none  of  us  would  rejoice  in  the  blessings  of 
Christian  civilization. 

"  A  great  crisis  has  arisen  in  Indian  affairs.  The  wrongs  of  the 
Indians  are  admitted  by  all.  Thousands  of  the  best  men  in  the 
land  feel  keenly  the  Nation's  shame.  They  look  to  Congress  for 
redress.  Unless  immediate  and  appropriate  legislation  is  made  for 
the  protection  and  government  of  the  Indians,  they  must  perish, 
and  our  country  bear  forever  the  disgrace,  and  suffer  the  retribution 
of  its  wrong-doing.  Our  children's  children  will  tell  the  sad  story 
in  hushed  tones,  and  wonder  how  their  fathers  dared  so  to  trample 
on  justice  and  trifle  with  God." 


POPULAR  RESPONSIBILITY. 

Years  ago  Bishop  Whipple  visited  Washington  to  plead  the  cause 
of  the  poor  Red  Men.  Secretary  Stanton  said  to  a  friend  of  Bishop 
Whipple,  "What  does  the  Bishop  want?  If  he  has  come  here  to 
tell  us  that  this  Government  is  guilty  of  gross  crimes  in  its  dealings 
with  the  Indians,  tell  him  that  we  all  know  that  this  is  true.  Tell 
him  that  the  U.  S.  Government  never  redresses  any  wrong  until  the 


30  Indian  Civilization. 

people  demand  it,  and  that  when  he  can  reach  the  heart  of  the  peo- 
ple, these  wrongs  will  cease." 

I  want  to  urge  upon  you,  my  friends,  to  do  what  in  you  lies  to 
reach  the  heart  of  the  people,  so  that  an  imperative  demand  may 
go  up  to  your  rulers  that  a  policy  of  mercy,  justice  and  good  faith 
shall  henceforth  be  strictly  carried  out. 

The  rights  of  prior  possession  cannot  be  ignored.  In  occupying 
the  lands  of  the  Indian,  and  thus  depriving  him  of  the  only  means 
of  livelihood  known  to  him  or  to  his  fathers,  you  incur  an  obliga- 
tion to  support  him  until  you  have  taught  him  a  better  way  of  sup- 
porting himself.  The  costliness  of  this  process  is  often  complained 
of;  I  wish  people  would  look  as  closely  to  the  cost  of  war  as  they 
do  to  the  cost  of  peace.  Bear  in  mind  that  it  cost  $50,000,000  to 
subdue  2,500  Seminoles  in  Florida,  and  that  Gen.  Sherman  and  his 
associate  Commissioners  reckoned  that  in  the  war  with  the  Chey- 
ennes,  it  took  a  million  dollars  to  kill  a  man,  and  you  will  quickly 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  it  is  far  cheaper  to  feed  and  to  civilize 
than  it  is  to  subdue  and  exterminate  Indian  tribes.  Exaggerated 
ideas  of  the  expenses  of  the  present  system  are  currently  entertained 
from  the  fact  that  large  sums  of  money  held  in  trust  for  the  Indians, 
at  Washington,  which  are  their  own  property,  and  in  no  sense 
come  out  of  the  National  Exchequer,  are  included  in  the  appropria- 
tion accounts. 

The  proposal  has  been  made  to  turn  over  the  Indian  service  into 
the  hands  of  the  military.  This  would  be  a  great  mistake.  The 
arbitrary  despotism  of  martial  law  is  as  much  opposed  to  the  spirit 
of  civilization,  as  civil  law  is  essential  to  it.  To  quote  the  words 
of  the  Sioux  Commission  when  arguing  against  the  proposal :  "The 
War  Department,  as  its  name  indicates,  is  unsuited  for  the  work  of 
civilization  ;  officers  of  the  army  are  not  fitted,  either  by  inclina- 
tion or  training,  to  teach  Indian  children  to  read  and  write,  or 
Indian  men  to  sow  and  reap."  The  testimony  brought  out  in  the 
report  of  the  Board  of  Indian  Commissioners  for  1875,  ig  strong 
and  concurrent  that  the  presence  of  soldiers  retards  civilization  and 
introduces  vice. 


Indian  A gents.  31 

INDIAN  AGENTS. 

The  Indian  Agent  should  combine  the  self-sacrificing  spirit  of 
a  missionary,  with  practical  business  ability.  To  him  belong  the 
general  direction  of  the  agency,  the  choice  of  his  subordinates, 
"the  erection  and  care  of  buildings,  the  supervision  of  farming  and 
mechanical  operations,  the  purchase  and  care  of  stock,  the  proper 
receipt  and  distribution  of  supplies,  the  management  of  schools, 
the  keeping  of  accurate  and  complicated  financial  accounts,  and 
the  furnishing  of  information  and  advice  to  head-quarters."  He 
must  be  a  man  of  firmness  of  hand  and  kindness  of  heart ;  able  to 
win  and  keep  the  confidence  of  a  race  distinguished  by  keen  insight 
into  character,  and  to  influence  and  control  them  with  tact  and 
skill.  To  state  these  requirements  is  to  assert  that  the  army  is  the 
wrong  direction  in  which  to  look  for  the  men  that  are  wanted. 
Possibly  no  better  plan  can  be  devised  for  obtaining  Agents  than 
the  one  adopted  by  President  Grant,  of  asking  the  religious  de- 
nominations to  suggest  names,  under  a  moral  responsibility  for  their 
honesty  and  efficiency.  We  admit  that  sufficient  care  and  judg- 
ment have  not  always  been  shown,  and  that  in  some  denominations 
greater  regard  seems  to  have  been  paid  to  the  interests  of  the  indi- 
vidual than  of  the  tribe  he  was  to  serve  ;  yet  we  have  the  testimony 
of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  in  his  last  report,  that  considering 
the  very  inadequate  salaries  allowed,  it  is  matter  of  congratulation 
that  even  so  intelligent  and  capable  men  have  been  secured.  When 
the  right  men  are  found  they  should  be  kept ;  they  should  receive 
enough  to  enable  them  them  to  support  and  educate  their  families 
with  comfort,  and  should  not  be  subject  to  removal  with  every 
change  of  administration.  In  dealing  with  Indians  it  is  especially 
important  that  the  plans  pursued,  and  the  people  employed,  should 
be  as  little  liable  to  change  as  possible.  I  was  witness  to  the  sus- 
picion with  which  a  newly  arrived  officer  was  regarded  at  one  of 
the  agencies.  "We  don't  know  where  this  man  came  from ;  we 
think  he  got  here  in  the  night ;"  said  one  of  the  chiefs,  as  he  made 
his  complaint  to  the  old  Superintendent. 


32  Indian  Civilization. 


PERMANENCE  OF  LOCATION. 

What  has  been  said  with  regard  to  permanence  of  officers  is  still 
more  the  case  as  regards  permanence  of  location.  If  there  is  one 
thing  that  I  would  urge  with  greater  emphasis  than  another,  it  is 
that  the  policy  so  happily  pursued  in  Canada  may  be  adopted,  and 
that  when  a  suitable  reservation  has  been  selected  for  a  tribe,  it  may 
be  kept  for  them  inviolately. 

Let  us  hear  no  more  complaints  like  those  which  have  reached  us 
from  the  Round  Valley  Reservation  in  California,  where  20,000 
acres  of  good  arable  land  have  been  lately  confiscated,  without  the 
smallest  show  of  justice,  and  where  Commissioner  Bristow,  of  Rhode 
Island,  says  the  white  settlers  seem  bent  on  crowding  the  Indians 
into  the  Pacific.  So  universally  has  this  same  sort  of  thing  been 
done,  that  they  say  out  West,  if  you  want  a  section  of  country  oc- 
cupied, you  have  only  to  make  an  Indian  Reserve  of  it,  and  white 
settlers  are  certain  to  pour  in.  Exaggerated  reports  of  the  value  of 
the  land  in  the  Indian  Territory  are  already  afloat,  the  certain 
precursors  of  more  determined  attempts  at  its  invasion.  The  ex- 
pulsion of  the  2000  settlers  from  the  Osage  Reserve,  was  a  valuable 
lesson,  and  it  ought  to  be  repeated  whenever  the  occasion  arises. 

Where  lands  are  divided  in  severalty  the  Indian  ought  not  to  be 
allowed  to  sell  his  lands.  When  the  citizen  Pottawattomies  had 
received  their  share  of  the  tribal  reserve,  designing  white  men  soon 
persuaded  them  to  sell,  and  the  consequence  to  the  tribe  was  very 
disastrous. 


CIVIL  LAW  AND  ITS  ENFORCEMENT. 

The  laws  of  the  United  States  ought  to  be  put  in  force  in  the 
Indian  Territory  and  other  Reservations.  On  this  subject  I  heartily 
concur  with  the  sentiments  of  Superintendent  Nicholson.  We  found 
the  Delawares  in  a  very  discouraged  state  from  the  feeling  of  inse- 
curity of  life  and  property.  Bad  white  men  invade  the  territory  to 
steal  horses  and  cattle,  almost  certain  that  their  crimes  will  go  un- 


Appeal  to  the  Society  of  Friends.  33 

punished ;  and  we  heard  of  several  recent  cases  of  murder  and  at- 
tempted murder,  which  have  not  been  brought  to  justice. 

Laudable  efforts  for  the  benefit  of  the  Indian  Tribes  have  again 
and  again  been  frustrated  by  the  introduction  of  strong  drink  among 
them.  Access  to  whiskey  means  extinction  to  the  race  ;  it  should 
be  a  penal  offence  to  sell  liquor  to  an  Indian  anywhere. 

Provision  for  the  education  of  the  children  should  be  made  in  a 
generous  spirit ;  so  also  should  provision  for  the  supply  of  imple- 
ments of  husbandry  ;  when  the  Indians  show  a  disposition  to  work, 
it  is  the  worst  of  short-sighted  policy  not  to  furnish  them  with  tools. 

The  rations  that  are  needed  and  that  have  been  promised  should 
be  sent  on  time.  Much  misery  has  been  caused  by  failure  of  punc- 
tuality in  delivering  food.  On  the  other  hand,  rations  should  not 
be  continued  any  longer  than  the  actual  necessity  lasts.  We  wrong 
the  Indian  if  we  fail  to  stimulate  him  to  self-support.  We  want  to 
make  a  citizen  of  him,  not  a  pauper. 

Medicines  also  should  be  duly  supplied  ;  400  Pawnees  out  of  a 
population  of  2000,  died  in  the  year  of  their  removal  from  Nebraska. 
The  memory  of  my  visit  to  their  agency  will  never  be  effaced  from 
my  mind.  Literally,  "  the  air  was  full  of  farewells  to  the  dying 
and  mourning  for  the  dead;"  14  died  in  one  day  shortly  before 
our  visit.  The  words  of  the  chiefs  to  us  reminded  me  of  the  wail 
of  the  children  of  Israel  in  the  desert,  "We  are  consumed  with 
dying.  We  die,  we  perish,  we  all  perish."  And  all  this  time,  the 
quinine  that  would  have  counteracted  the  malarial  poison  was  not 
to  be  ha^.  The  authorities  at  Washington  do  indeed  need  to  be 
reminded  that  their  negligence  and  delays  incur  misery  and  death 
to  these  poor  people. 


APPEAL  TO  THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS. 

In  conclusion,  I  have  a  few  words  to  say  in  a  special  manner  to 
my  own  brethren  in  religious  profession,  the  members  of  the  Society 
of  Friends.  We  have  a  traditional,  I  may  say  a  historical  interest 

in  the  Indian.     Two  hundred  years  ago,  within  the  bounds  of  the 
3 


34  Indian  Civilization. 

City  of  Philadelphia,  occurred  a  scene  to  which  the  poet  and  the 
painter,  the  statesman  and  the  historian,  have  alike  delighted  to  do 
honor.  Beneath  the  Elm  Tree  of  Shackamaxon,  William  Penn 
enunciated  those  pure  and  holy  principles,  which  he  had  learned 
from  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  Having  faith  in  the  universal  ap- 
plicability of  these  principles,  he  tried  "  the  holy  experiment"  of 
putting  them  in  practice  towards  the  white  man  and  the  red  alike. 
"  We  meet,"  he  said,  "  on  the  broad  pathway  of  faith  and  good- 
will ;  where  no  advantage  is  to  be  taken  on  either  side,  but  all  is  to 
be  openness,  brotherhood  and  love." 

The  treaty  that  was  there  signed  was  kept.  "The  only  one," 
as  Voltaire  said,  "made  without  an  oath,  and  the  only  one  that 
was  never  broken."  Bancroft  has  done  justice  to  our  relations 
with  the  Indian  tribes,  and  records  that  no  drop  of  Quaker  blood 
was  ever  shed  by  them.  They  still  look  to  us  as  their  friends.  A 
Quaker  is  received  by  them  with  confidence  because  he  is  a  Qua- 
ker. "The  Quakers  are  your  friends,"  said  Black  Beaver  of  the 
Delawares,  in  1872.  "  Their  fathers  and  ours  bound  themselves  to 
be  friends  forever.  Their  treaty  was  never  broken.  The  Indians 
have  never  taken  any  Quaker's  blood,  and  the  Quakers  have  always 
been  true  friends  to  the  Indians.  Our  Grandfather  at  Washington 
knew  this,  and  for  this  reason  has  sent  them  among  us.  He  knew 
that  they  would  do  right  by  his  red  grand-children." 

A  prominent  share  in  the  care  of  the  Indians  has  been  assigned 
to  us.  It  is  a  great  trust.  The  Chief  Clerk  of  Indian  Affairs  bears 
testimony  that  we  accepted  it  "  as  a  great  trust,"  and  I  3411  thank- 
ful to  know  that  the  encomium  is  merited.  We  cannot  be  too 
earnest  in  the  use  of  right  means.  We  cannot  be  too  careful  in 
our  choice  of  men.  To  quote  the  words  of  my  friend  Joel  Bean, 
when  writing  on  this  subject :  "  Our  eye  must  be  kept  single,  our 
object  pure,  and  our  trust  fixed  upon  the  Lord.  We  need  Divine 
counsel  to  direct ;  and  men  that  can  stand  like  flint  against  temp- 
tation ;  men  of  clean  hands  and  a  pure  heart,  to  represent  a  holy 
cause  among  a  benighted  people,  and  before  the  emissaries  whom 
Satan  sends  to  spoil  them." 


Appeal  to  the  Society  of  Friends.  35 

Much  of  our  work  has  been  well  done.  No  fraud,  I  believe,  can 
be  proved  against  us.  No  Quaker  agent  has  returned  from  the 
field  enriched  with  unrighteous  gain.  We  have  shown  our  capacity 
to  educate  these  people,  and  to  train  them  to  self-support ;  but  we 
have  done  little,  comparatively,  to  Christianize  them.  The  results 
of  some  of  our  longest  established  missions  are  not  such  as  we  can 
point  to  with  much  exultation.  I  think  we  have  learned  some  les- 
sons, and  are  beginning  to  adapt  our  means  more  wisely  to  our 
ends.  The  old  maxim,  "  Civilize  first,  then  try  to  Christianize," 
must  be  thrown  away,  and  we  must  accept  the  axiom  that  "  Chris- 
tianity is  at  once  the  shortest  road  to  civilization,  and  the  best  secu- 
rity for  its  maintenance."  We  fail  in  the  most  important  part  of 
all,  if  we  fail  to  bring  these  people  to  our  Saviour's  feet.  Remem- 
ber how  George  Fox,  by  example  and  precept,  urged  upon  our 
fathers  to  teach  the  Indians  that  Christ  died  for  them,  and  that  the 
Holy  Spirit  is  sent  to  them  as  well  as  to  us.  It  is  Christian  teachers 
who  above  all  are  needed  ;  men  and  women  who  will  accept  the 
elevation  of  these  people  as  their  mission,  and  give  themselves  to  it 
as  a  life  work. 

My  whole  heart  went  out  towards  a  beloved  brother,  who  had 
nearly  fallen  a  martyr  to  his  devotion ;  as  he  told  me  that  he  so 
loved  the  Indians,  that  he  would  willingly  labor  in  their  behalf  till 
death.  It  is  a  work  that  calls  for  self-sacrifice  and  untiring  patience. 
Energy  sometimes  flags  under  the  difficulties,  and  under  the  discou- 
ragements the  eye  of  hope  grows  dim.  But  the  maxim  of  the  pio- 
neer missionary  to  the  Indians,  the  venerable  Elliot,  still  holds 
good  :  "  Prayer  and  pains,  with  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  will  accom- 
plish everything." 

One  word  more  :  A  plea  for  sympathy  for  the  workers.  I  ask 
you  to  remember  their  isolated  situation,  in  those  far-off  wilder- 
nesses. They  are  separated  from  the  comforts  and  blessings  of 
civilized  life.  Their  religious  privileges  are  few.  Beyond  the  nar- 
row circle  of  their  fellow  employees,  they  have  no  companionship 
but  that  of  the  Indian.  Privations,  difficulties  and  discouragements 
abound. 


36  Indian  Civilization. 

I  have  dwelt  this  evening  on  the  bright  results,  but  I  could  not 
tell  you  of  all  the  toil  and  hardness  through  which  those  results 
have  been  achieved,  nor  of  all  the  shadows  that  are  wanted,  to  give 
the  picture  the  completeness  of  truth.  One  of  the  Agents  told  me 
that  nothing  but  the  belief  that  they  were  on  the  line  of  their  duty, 
and  more  usefully  occupied  than  they  could  be  elsewhere,  would 
induce  them  to  remain  ;  and  at  another  place  they  said  they  were 
so  harassed  through  being  inadequately  supported,  that  they  were 
almost  ready  to  give  up  in  despair. 

You  have  tried,  I  know,  to  strengthen  their  hands,  by  your  cor- 
respondence and  your  gifts,  and  what  you  have  done  has  been  most 
highly  appreciated.  I  want  to  encourage  you  to  go  on  and  abound 
still  more.  This  work  is  a  work  for  the  whole  church,  in  which 
we  should  be  found  laboring  with  one  accord.  It  is  the  cause  of 
the  oppressed  ;  and  in  giving  ourselves  to  it  we  shall  be  found  co- 
laborers  with  Him  concerning  whom  it  is  written  :  "  He  shall  de- 
liver the  needy  when  he  crieth ;  the  poor  also,  and  him  that  hath 
no  helper.  He  shall  spare  the  poor  and  the  needy,  and  shall  save 
the  souls  of  the  needy.  He  shall  redeem  their  soul  from  deceit  and 
violence,  and  precious  shall  their  blood  be  in  His  sight." 


Appendix.  37 

EVIDENCE    ON    THE 

CONDITION  OF  INDIANS  IN  CANADA, 

BY    J.    T.    GILKISON. 

Questions  and  Answers  to  and  from  J,  T,  Gilkison,  Visiting  Superintendent  of 
Indian  Affairs,  County  of  £  rant,  Ontario,  Canada;  having  under  his  charge 
about  3,100  Six  Nation  Indians,  and  200  of  the  Ojibewas,  in  all  3,300. 

ist.     How  long  have  you  been  Superintendent? 

Fourteen  years. 
2nd.    Over  what  Tribes  have  you  charge? 

The  Six  Nation  Indians,  consisting  of  Mohawks,  Oneidas, 
Senecas,  Cayugas,  Onondagas,  Tuscaroras,  and  some  Dela- 
wares.     Also,  a  band  of  the  Ojibewas  called  Mississaugas. 
3rd.    How  many  in  number? 

In  all  about  3,300. 
4th.    Of  how  many  acres  does  their  reserve  consist  ? 

52,000  acres  of  excellent  land,  surrounded  by  white  neighbors. 
5th.     Are  they  increasing  in  numbers? 

The  average  natural  increase  of  the  Six  Nations  is  about  forty 

per  annum  ;  the  Mississaugas  about  stationary. 
6th.     Do  they  live  on  farms,  or  do  they  subsist  by  hunting? 

They  have  farms,  and  cultivate  more  or  less  land  ;  a  very  few, 
occasionally,  go  some  distance  to  hunt  the  deer,  and  trap 
for  furs, 
yth.    Of  farms,  how  much  land  does  each  family  hold? 

The  Reserve  is  divided  into  the  usual  concessions,  and  lots  of 
100  acres,  the  regulation  being  that  quantity  as  the  maxi- 
mum for  the  head  of  a  family. 
8th.     On  what  terms  do  they  possess  their  reserve? 
They  hold  title  in  common,  from  the  crown. 
9th.     Can  they  sell  their  holdings  to  another  of  their  tribe,  or  to 

any  other  Indians,  or  to  a  white? 

The  rule  is,  not  to  sell  or  exchange  without  authority ;  Indians 
of  other  bands,  and  whites,  are  by  rule  and  law  excluded. 


38  Appendix. 

ioth.  Have  they  deeds  of  their  farms? 

No,  the  Reserve  is  held  in  common,  but,  the  individuals  are 
located,  and  under  new  regulations,  will  have  location 
tickets,  duly  recorded  in  a  book  for  the  purpose. 

nth.   Can  their  holdings  be  inherited  by  will  or  otherwise  ? 

The  usage  has  been  so,  an  Indian  will  having  no  legal  effect, 
but  recent  legislation  defines  the  succession  to  lands  and 
chattels,  the  widow  and  children,  or  near  relatives  partici- 
pating. 

1 2th.  If  the  whites  desire  to  buy  the  lands  of  the  Indians,  and 
should  press  the  Government  to  admit  such  purchase,  and 
remove  the  Indians  to  other  lands,  would  the  Government 
likely  do  so  ? 

Indian  Reserves  cannot  be  sold  without,  in  the  first  place, 
the  voluntary  wish  of  a  majority  of  the  male  adults,  by  a 
special  vote  ;  and  secondly,  by  consent  of  the  Govern- 
ment ;  while,  it  is  certain,  that  even  if  the  Indians  desired 
to  sell,  the  Government  would  not  sanction  it,  unless  the 
act  was  for  their  advantage  and  benefit.  The  Government 
have  never  attempted  to  force  the  Indians  to  surrender 
their  lands. 

1 4th.  Do  you  consider  the  Indians  improving  as  farmers,  and  as 

Christians  ? 

Yes,  on  the  whole  they  are  doing  so ;  some  of  them  being 
good  farmers,  and  in  morality  and  sobriety,  a  decided  im- 
provement. 

1 5th.  Are  Indians  subject  to  punishment  for  crimes,  and  are  they 

protected  from  injury  by  whites  ? 

Yes,  all  are  dealt  with  alike  according  to  the  laws  of  the 
Dominion. 

1 6th.  Do  you  consider  the  Indians  under  your  care  give  more 
trouble  in  the  administration  of  the  laws  than  an  equal 
number  of  whites  of  the  lower  classes  ? 

I  do  not,  though  they  are  subject  to  the  influence  and  temp- 
tations of  designing  bad  white  men. 


Appendix.  39 

1 7th.   In   what    respect    does  the  Government  treat    the   Indians 

differently  from  the  whites  ? 

As  already  stated,  all  are  alike  subject  to  the  common  laws 
of  the  country,  but  the  Indians  are  communities,  under 
the  special  care  of  the  Government,  whose  policy  has 
always  been  that  of  a  good  parent,  and  every  effort  is 
made  to  promote  their  welfare  and  prosperity,  in  the  hope 
they  will  some  day  become  self-reliant  and  independent. 
In  the  meantime,  they  have  their  reservations,  no  muni- 
cipal law,  but  their  local  or  domestic  affairs  are  regulated 
by  an  Indian  Council,  frequently  presided  over  by  the 
local  or  visiting  superintendent,  minutes  of  proceedings 
taken,  which  are  sent  to  the  Indian  Department. 

1 8th.  Have  you  ever  known,  or  heard  of  any  case  during  this  cen- 
tury, where  the  whites  had  'any  reason  to  fear  incursions 
from  Indians  ? 

No  such  occurrence  has  ever  taken  place  in  Canada  within 
that  period,  because  their  relations  have  been  friendly, 
the  Indians  being  treated  with  consideration  and  kindness. 

1 9th.   Do  you  consider  the  Indians  have  perfect  confidence  in  their 

just  treatment  by  the  Government  ? 
Most  assuredly. 

2oth.  Do  they  believe  that  whatever  is  coming  to  them,  will  be 
received,  without  losing  weight,  or  value,  by  passing 
through  the  agents  of  Government ! 

Certainly ;  for  it  is  the  desire  and  practice  of  the  Government, 
to  give  the  Indian  bands  full  information  as  to  their  affairs 
and  moneys,  even  to  furnishing  them  with  copies  of  their 
accounts  current,  half  yearly,  while  they  also  see  the  annual 
Indian  Blue  Book,  published  by  authority  of  Parliament. 
The  Agents,  or  Visiting  Superintendents,  take  a  personal 
interest  in  affording  all  information,  assistance  and  advice 
in  their  power. 

2ist.  From  your  observation,  what  has  been  the  influence  of  re- 
ligion, as  presented  through  the  Church  of  England,  among 
the  Indians? 


40  Appendix. 

Quite  as  favorable  as  with  a  similar  body  of  whites,  consider- 
ing the  serious  defect  in  the  want  of  parental  authority  ; 
children  being  allowed  to  have  too  much  their  own  way, 
very  natural  in  the  Indian  race. 

Through  the  benevolent  efforts  of  the  New  England  Company  of 
London,  England,  the  education  and  spiritual  welfare  of  the  Six 
Nations  and  other  Indian  Bands  have  been  greatly  promoted ; 
hundreds  of  children  have  been,  and  are  being  taught,  the  ordinary 
branches  of  education,  in  a  number  of  schools,  and  in  a  well  con- 
ducted "  Institute,"  where,  in  addition,  boys  and  girls  are  instructed 
in  farming,  and  house  or  domestic  work,  productive  of  gratifying 
results. 

The  Six  Nations,  with  the  Mississauga  Band,  are  probably  the 
largest  body  of  Indians  in  any  one  settlement  in  Canada,  and  are  a 
law  abiding  people  ;  and  with  their  Councils,  Agricultural  Society, 
Ploughing  Matches,  Temperance  Societies,  Schools,  Churches, 
Bands  of  Music,  &c.,  have  thus  all  the  elements  of  civilization  and 
progress. 

It  should  be  stated,  that  about  800  of  the  Cayugas,  Onondagas, 
Senecas  and  Oneidas,  are  Pagans,  and  worship  the  Great  Spirit, 
with  the  forms  and  ceremonies  of  their  fathers,  but  they  are  a  well 
behaved  people,  emulate,  and  live  in  harmony  with  their  Christian 
brethren. 

For  further  information  and  details,  reference  may  be  made  to 
the  reports  in  the  Government  Blue  Book  for  1876;  to  a  narrative 
of  the  visit  of  the  Governor  General  to  the  Six  Nations  in  1874;  to 
printed  report  of  an  Indian  Council  with  the  Superintendent  General 
of  Indian  Affairs;  and  to  printed  report  of  a  ploughing  match. 
The  Agricultural  shows  of  the  Six  Nations,  held  each  year,  rival 
those  of  their  white  neighbors. 

J.    T.    GILKISON, 

Visiting  Superintendent  and  Commissioner, 

Indian  Affairs. 

INDIAN  OFFICE — Brantford,  Ontario,  Canada. 
DEC.  ist,  1876. 


Appendix.  41 

PEACE   WITH   THE    SIOUX, 

LETTER    FROM    BISHOP    WHIPPLE. 

ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  WAR — INJUSTICE  OF  THE  GOVERN- 
MENT  TREATIES  BROKEN CONFIDENCE  DESTROYED A  PER- 
PETUAL PEACE  ADVOCATED. 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Tribune  : 

SIR: — The  Sioux  Indians  had  the  solemn  pledge  of  the  United 
States  that  they  should  be  protected  in  the  absolute  and  peaceable 
possession  of  the  country  which  was  set  apart  for  them  by  the  treaty 
of  1868.  That  treaty  was  made  by  some  of  the  highest  officers  of 
the  army,  men  of  national  fame  and  untarnished  honor.  It  could 
not  have  been  made  had  not  they  pledged  a  soldier's  honor  that 
the  faith  would  be  kept.  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
makes  these  treaties  the  highest  of  all  authority,  and  declares  that 
they  are  binding  upon  every  citizen.  The  ordinance  of  1787,  which 
is  equally  binding,  declares  that  the  Indian  tribes  shall  be  protected 
in  person,  property,  and  life,  and  that  their  property  shall  never  be 
taken  from  them  except  in  war  which  has  been  duly  authorized  by 
Congress.  I  know  of  no  instance  in  history  where  a  great  nation 
has  so  shamelessly  violated  its  solemn  oath.  We  first  sent  an  army 
into  the  country  which  we  had  pledged  no  white  man  should  enter 
to  seek  for  gold.  They  found  gold.  The  discovery  was  heralded 
by  the  press.  A  greedy  host  of  adventurers  flocked  to  the  "Eldo- 
rado." The  press,  the  people,  and  the  rulers  seemed  to  have  for- 
gotten that  these  red  men  held  the  title  to  these  lands  by  the  guar- 
antee of  a  nation's  honor,  as  well  as  by  the  undisputed  possession  of 
centuries.  It  was  the  old  story  of  Ahab  coveting  Naboth's  vine- 
yard. Ahab  excused  his  conscience  by  calling  Naboth  a  churlish 
fellow,  and  he  crowned  the  infamy  of  robbing  by  murder.  These 
are  hard  words.  When  did  Congress  authorize  war  against  the 
Sioux  ?  When  did  the  Executive  give  orders  to  carry  desolation  and 
death  to  the  women  and  children  of  the  Dakotas? 


42  Appendix. 

The  history  of  this  war  is  this:  In  November,  1875,  Inspector 
E.  C.  Watkins  wrote  to  the  Indian  Office,  that  Sitting  Bull  and  the 
Indians  with  him  in  the.Powder  River  country,  were  guilty  of  depre- 
dations upon  the  settlers  in  Montana.  He  said  that  they  were  few 
in  number,  and  recommended  that  they  should  be  punished.  Every 
motive  of  humanity  and  justice  demanded  that  we  should  be  careful 
to  protect  the  innocent  and  only  punish  the  guilty.  That  Fall  there 
was  an  inadequate  supply  of  provisions  at  the  agencies,  and  the 
Indians  went  out  to  their  unceded  territory  to  hunt.  They  went 
as  they  were  accustomed  to  do — with  the  consent  of  their  agents 
and  as  provided  by  the  treaty.  An  order  was  issued  December  6, 
1875,  by  E.  P.  Smith,  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  that  unless 
the  Indians  returned  to  the  agencies  before  February  i,  1876,  they 
would  all  be  regarded  as  hostile.  That  officer  is  dead,  but  he  told 
his  friends  the  order  was  a  sad  mistake,  and  that  he  had  been  de- 
ceived by  others.  The  Indians  had  gone  away  from  the  agencies 
to  secure  food  and  skins  for  clothing.  The  United  States  had  set 
apart  this  very  country  as  a  hunting  ground  for  them  for  ever.  Eight 
months  after  this  order  to  return  or  to  be  treated  as  hostile,  Con- 
gress appropriated  money  for  the  seventh  of  30  instalments  for 
these  roaming  Indians.  It  was  impossible  for  the  Indians  to  obey 
the  order.  No  one  of  the  runners  sent  out  to  inform  the  Indians 
was  able  to  return  himself  by  the  time  appointed,  yet  Indian  women 
and  children  were  expected  to  traverse  a  treeless  desert  without  fuel 
or  proper  clothing  under  the  penalty  of  death.  Gen.  Sheridan 
says  in  his  report  that  the  tropps  found  the  weather  so  severe  as 
late  as  March,  that  they  were  frost-bitten  and  had  to  return  to  their 
posts.  If  well-clad  soldiers,  with  tents  and  supply  trains,  could 
not  remain  out  in  March,  we  can  judge  of  the  feasibility  of  Indian 
families  traversing  that  vast  desert  in  the  depth  of  winter. 

BEGINNING    OF   THE   WAR. 

When  this  order  reached  Cheyenne  Agency,  Agent  Bingham 
wrote  back,  "  It  has  surprised  me  and  my  Indians  that  the  Govern- 


Appendix.  43 

ment  thinks  that  war  is  possible.  I  have  never  seen  these  Indians 
more  friendly  disposed. ' '  Even  the  Indians  who  were  in  the  Powder 
River  Country  and  were  directed  to  return  .to  the  agencies,  received 
the  message  without  any  signs  of  irritation.  They  did  not  dream 
of  war.  They  said,  "  We  cannot  come  now ;  we  are  hunting ;  we 
will  return  early  in  the  Spring. ' '  This  order  furnished  the  pretext 
for  war.  Early  in  February  troops  were  concentrated,  and  by  March 
the  war  was  inaugurated.  On  March  lyth,  an  Indian  village  was 
attacked.  An  Indian  village  means  a  collection  of  tents  occupied 
by  men,  women,  and  children.  We  cry  out  with  indignation  when 
savages  follow  the  rule  of  savage  warfare  and  attack  one  of  our 
villages,  and  murder  women  and  children.  Is  the  act  any  more 
humane  when  civilization  attacks  Indian  settlements  and  kills  Indian 
women  and  babes  ?  Is  the  crashing  shell  or  the  merciless  minie- 
ball  less  cruel  when  it  tears  the  flesh  of  the  Indian's  wife  and  child 
than  when  the  tomahawk  and  rifle  kills  the  white  mother  and  babe? 
The  Indians  say  that  that  village  was  composed  of  people  who  were 
coming  back  to  the  agencies  in  obedience  to  the  order  of  the  Com- 
missioner of  Indian  Affairs. 

The  war,  thus  begun,  forced  all  the  Indians  in  the  Powder  River 
country  into  a  hostile  attitude.  Then  came  the  massacre  of  the 
lamented  Gen.  Custer  and  his  gallant  army.  Even  this  disaster  did 
not  make  us  think  about  justice.  A  cry  arose  for  extermination. 
The  year's  war  has  accomplished  the  usual  results — we  have  killed 
a  few  scores  of  Indians,  including  men,  women,  and  children.  We 
have  hardly  had  an  engagement  which  was  not  an  attack  upon  an 
Indian  village.  We  have  boasted  of  our  glorious  victories  when  we 
have  burned  and  destroyed  the  food,  the  clothing,  and  the  shelter 
of  these  Indians,  and  turned  them  out  amid  the  horrors  of  a  Dakota 
winter  to  die.  We  do  not  torture  the  wounded  and  the  dying,  but 
we  employ  the  merciless  savage  to  do  it  for  us.  The  Pawnees  and 
the  Crows,  the  savage  enemies  of  the  Sioux,  are  incorporated  into 
our  army.  They  are  paid,  and  fed,  and  clothed  by  us,  and  we  are 
responsible  for  their  deeds.  Recently  a  telegram  announced  that  a 
number  of  Sioux  chiefs  came  to  our  camp  with  a  flag  of  truce  to  sue 


44  Appendix. 

for  peace.  All  were  brutally  murdered  by  our  Crow  scouts.  Would 
we  not  hold  another  nation  responsible  for  the  acts  committed  by 
the  allies  whom  they  had  employed?  It  will  be  said  it  was  a  mis- 
take j  that  the  officers  of  the  army  felt  a  righteous  indignation  at  the 
act.  I  believe  it.  There  are  in  our  army  some  of  the  noblest  men 
that  ever  lived.  I  pay,  and  always  will  pay,  all  honor  to  such  men. 
They  hate  this  wretched  Indian  warfare.  They  feel  ashamed  and 
humbled  when  they  are  sent  to  carry  on  war  which  they  know  is 
the  result  of  violated  treaties.  The  people  and  the  Government 
commit  injustice  which  would  be  regarded  as  a  just  cause  of  war  by 
any  civilized  nation. 

The  war,  which  is  unjust  in  its  inception,  must  always  be  a  war 
of  blunders  and  wrong.  We  do  not  attempt  to  redress  the  wrong. 
Take  one  instance.  The  whole  nation  knew  of  the  Sand  Creek 
massacre  by  Colonel  Chivington  in  1864.  They  knew  that  this 
massacre  has  no  parallel  in  modern  times.  Women  were  ripped 
open  and  unborn  infants  taken  from  their  wombs.  Babes  were 
butchered  in  their  mother's  arms.  Scenes  took  place  which  Gen. 
Sherman  says  would  have  disgraced  any  tribe  in  Africa.  These 
brutal  acts  were  done  by  volunteer  enlisted  troops,  under  the  nation's 
flag ;  the  soldiers  wore  its  uniform.  Was  any  reparation  made  ? 
Was  any  Indian  widow  or  orphan  pensioned  ?  Was  any  property 
paid  for?  The  war  which  grew  out  of  that  massacre  was  carried  on 
until  Black  Kettle  and  his  band  were  killed.  Gen.  Harney  said  of 
this  chief:  "  I  have  worn  the  uniform  of  my  country  fifty-five  years, 
and  I  know  that  Black  Kettle  was  as  good  a  friend  of  the  United 
States  as  I  am/'  Col.  Boone  had  known  Black  Kettle  for  years. 
He  said,  with  tears,  "  He  was  a  good  man  ;  he  was  my  friend  ;  he 
was  murdered/' 

Unjust  war  always  tends  to  acts  of  cruelty.  We  have  this  Fall 
committed  fearful  wrongs  against  the  Sioux  Indians  who  have  re- 
mained peaceably  at  their  agencies.  In  July  there  was  a  rumor  that 
the  ponies  of  the  friendly  Indians  would  be  taken  from  them.  The 
agent  at  Cheyenne  appealed  to  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs 
to  know  if  the  rumor  was  true.  The  Commissioner  went  to  the 


^Appendix.  45 

President.  The  President  told  him  to  write  and  assure  the  Indians 
of  protection.  He  asked  the  Commissioner  to  see  Gen.  Sherman 
and  tell  him  the  President's  decision.  They  agreed  upon  a  dispatch. 
The  pledge  that  they  should  be  protected  in  their  property  was 
made  in  the  most  solemn  manner  by  the  agent,  for  he  had  the 
highest  of  all  authority,  the  President  of  the  United  States.  This 
pledge  was  repeated  by  the  officers  of  the  army.  When  the  Sioux 
Commission  was  sent  to  make  a  treaty  for  the  Black  Hills,  Judge  Gay- 
lord,  the  Assistant  Attorney  General,  went  with  them  as  their  legal 
adviser.  Before  he  left  Washington  he  called  upon  the  President 
to  learn  his  views.  The  President  told  him  to  assure,  all  friendly 
Indians  that  they  would  be  protected  in  their  persons  and  property. 
The  Commission  made  the  same  pledge.  In  violation  of  these 
pledges,  2,000  ponies  were  taken  from  Cheyenne  and  Standing 
Rock  Agencies.  They  shared  the  fate  of  all  property  taken  with- 
out color  of  law.  No  inventory  was  kept  of  individual  property. 
Of  1,100  ponies  taken  at  Standing  Rock,  only  874  left  Bismarck 
for  St.  Paul.  No  provision  was  made  to  feed  them  on  the  way. 
The  grass  had  burned  on  the  prairie  and  there  were  several  inches 
of  snow  on  the  ground.  The  small  streams  were  frozen,  and  no 
water  was  to  be  had  until  they  reached  the  James  River.  There 
was  no  grass,  and  no  hay  could  be  purchased  until  they  reached 
the  Cheyenne  River,  more  than  ten  days'  travel,  and  then  nothing 
until  they  reached  Fort  Abercrombie.  No  wonder  that  there  were 
only  1,200  ponies  out  of  2,000  that  left  Abercrombie,  and  that  of 
these  only  about  500  reached'St.  Paul.  The  wretched,  dying  brutes 
were  made  the  subject  of  jest  as  the  war  horses  of  the  Dakotas. 
Many  died  on  the  way,  many  were  stolen,  and  the  remnant  were 
sold  in  St.  Paul.  It  was  worse  than  the  ordinary  seizure  of  property 
without  color  of  law.  It  was  not  merely  robbery  of  our  friends — 
in  violation  of  the  plighted  word  of  the  President,  in  violation  of 
the  organic'  law  of  the  nation,  in  violation  of  justice — it  was  cruel. 
The  Indians  are  compelled  to  camp  from  10  to  40  miles  away  from 
the  agency  to  find  fuel.  They  have  to  cross  this  distance  in  the 


46  Appendix. 

coldest  weather  to  obtain  their  rations,  and  without  ponies  they 
must  cross  on  foot,  and  some  of  them  may  perish. 


A    LASTING    PEACE    POSSIBLE. 

So  the  war  goes  on  and  a  just  God  looks  down  from  Heaven  and 
sees  it  all,  and  will  reward  us  according  to  our  work.  There  is  an 
old-fashioned  book  which  some  of  us  believe,  and  it  tells  us  that 
nations  reap  what  they  sow ;  just  that,  nothing  but  that.  We  talk 
about  mistakes — mistakes  in  politics,  mistakes  in  business — but  the 
real  mistake  is  in  forgetting  God.  Business  is  at  a  stand-still  in  the 
East,  the  West  is  desolated  by  the  locusts,  whom  an  old  prophet 
calls  the  Lord's  great  army.  Is  it  not  time  to  hear  His  voice, 
"What  is  it,  O  man,  the  Lord  doth  require  of  thee ;  to  deal  justly, 
to  love  mercy  and  to  walk  humbly  with  God?"  Why  may  we  not 
make  an  honorable  and  a  lasting  peace  with  these  poor  outlawed 
Sioux?  It  can  be  done.  It  only  needs  justice,  government,  pro- 
tection of  the  innocent  and  punishment  of  the  guilty;  a  policy 
worthy  of  a  great  Christian  people.  There  are  men  who  can  settle 
this  whole  question  justly.  We  are  not  dealing  with  a  few  poor 
savages.  We  are  dealing  with  God.  These  poor  red  men  are  men 
for  whom  Christ  died.  Our  religion  is  a  sham  and  a  snare  if  it  does 
not  embrace  in  its  love  the  heathen  at  our  doors. 

Years  ago  I  visited  Washington  to  plead  for  the  poor  red  men. 
Secretary  Stanton  said  to  a  friend  of  mine:  "What  does  the  Bishop 
want  ?  If  he  has  come  here  to  tell  us  that  this  government  is  guilty 
of  gross  crimes  in  its  dealings  with  the  Indians,  tell  him  that  we  all 
know  that  this  is  true.  Tell  him  that  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment never  redresses  any  wrong  until  the  people  demand  it,  and 
when  he  can  reach  the  heart  of  the  people  these  wrongs  will  end." 

The  whole  country  knows  that  these  Sioux  Indians  cannot  become 
civilized  where  they  are.  They  cannot  subsist  there  by  the  chase. 
We  can  build  vast  almshouses  and  gather  around  them  a  mass  of 
savages,  under  every  bad  influence,  certain  that  the  irritations  of 
our  Indian  system,  the  failure  to  make  appropriations,  or  some 


Appendix.  47 

blundering  crime,  will  in  time  bring  us  oft  recurring  Indian  wars. 
We  can  perpetuate  our  present  policy  of  raising  and  training  wild 
Indians.  We  can  raise  savages  to  murder  our  people,  and  spend 
millions  of  treasure  in  repeating  our  stupid  policy.  Is  there  no 
better  way  ?  In  the  South-West  there  is  as  beautiful  a  country  as 
the  sun  ever  shone  upon.  It  has  been  solemnly  set  apart  as  .the 
future  home  of  the  Indians.  There  is  more  reason  to  keep  it  for 
them,  because  the  solemn  compact  which  for  ever  dedicated  that 
territory  to  the  Indians  was  made  to  atone  for  one  of  the  darkest 
crimes  against  the  Cherokees  and  others.  One  half  of  that  territory 
is  absolutely  at  our  disposal.  Any  Indian  tribes  can  be  located 
upon  it  at  the  good  pleasure  of  the  Government.  Indians  may  be 
settled  on  other  unoccupied  portions  of  the  territory  with  the 
consent  of  the  owners,  and  by  a  just  payment  of  its  value.  A  small 
fragment  of  the  Sioux  wish  to  go  there.  They  can  be  made  the 
pioneers  for  others,  and  the  whole  Sioux  nation  ultimately  find  a 
home  there,  as  fast  as  they  are  prepared  to  live  by  the  cultivation  of 
the  soil. 

If  the  Sioux  remain  on  the  Missouri  permanently  there  is  but  one 
way  in  which  they  can  become  a  self-supporting  people.  It  is  to 
make  them  herdsmen.  It  is  a  life  peculiarly  fitted  for  a  nomadic 
people. 

It  could  only  become  a  success  under  a  careful  and  well  devised 
system.  A  considerable  appropriation  must  be  made  to  buy  Ameri- 
can cattle.  A  wise  plan  of  distribution  be  adopted  to  give  them  to 
the  most  reliable.  They  must  be  protected  by  the  strong  arm  of 
the  law  from  lawless  Indians  and  whites.  It  will  require  greater 
care,  because  the  vast  emigration  to  the  Black  Hills  will  lead  hun- 
dreds of  whites  to  engage  in  the  same  avocation,  and  there  will  be 
great  danger  of  conflict.  There  are  Sioux  who  will  never  willingly 
leave  Dakota,  and  these  should  be  allowed  to  remain,  and  must  be 
made  stock  raisers.  There  are  those  who  wish  to  become  farmers, 
and  these  must  be  given  a  country  where  agriculture  is  possible.  It 
is  said  that  if  a  few  hundred  friendly  Sioux  are  sent  to  the  Indian 
Territory  it  will  endanger  the  safety  of  the  white  settlers  in  the 


48  Appendix. 

neighboring  States.  The  Sioux  Indian  has  no  superior  among  the 
wild  red  men  of  America.  He  can  be  influenced  by  kindness.  No 
wild  man  has  greater  respect  for  law.  After  the  awful  massacre  of 
Minnesota,  which  stands  without  parallel  in  American  history,  and 
which  was  the  result  of  our  robbery,  fourteen  hundred  of  the  worst 
of  these  Sioux  fled  to  Canada.  They  were  given  a  reservation .  They 
have  been  loyal  to  the  Canadian  Government  and  law  abiding.  The 
Secretary  of  the  Interior  for  the  Dominion  says,  that  when  it  was 
thought  best  to  have  a  portion  of  them  removed  to  a  new  reserve 
some  of  "their  white  neighbors  objected  because  they  had  been 
found  so  useful." 

In  1864,  Gen.  Sibley  selected  150  of  these  Sioux  as  scouts  and 
placed  them  in  camps  along  our  Western  border.  They  had  orders 
to  kill  any  Indians  who  entered  the  State  to  murder  the  whites. 
Only  one  body  of  Indians  evaded  their  watchfulness — of  these  three 
were  captured  by  whites  and  hanged  at  Mankato,  two  were  killed 
by  scouts,  one  escaped,  and  one  was  taken  prisoner  and  brought  to 
a  camp  of  scouts.  This  prisoner  found  his  own  uncle  in  command 
of  the  camp.  He  said,  "My  uncle  I  am  glad  to  see  you;  you  will 
save  my  life."  His  uncle  replied,  "No,  my  nephew,  I  am  a  soldier 
and  my  orders  are  to  kill  any  man  who  comes  to  make  war  on  whites. 
You  have  done  this  and  you  must  die. ' '  He  raised  his  gun  and 
killed  him  on  the  spot. 

THE    SIOUX    FAITHFUL. 

The  officers  of  the  army  know  that  there  never  have  been  any 
more  faithful  men  than  the  Sioux  scouts.  Gen.  Stanley  and  Gen. 
Sully  repeatedly  bore  testimony  to  their  fidelity.  Gen.  Terry  issued 
a  general  order  in  1874,  which  was  to  be  read  on  parade  at  every 
post,  thanking  the  Sioux  scouts  for  their  fidelity  and  courage  in 
danger.  The  lamented  Gen.  Custer  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Rev.  S. 
D.  Hinman  after  his  expedition  to  the  Black  Hills,  in  which  he  says 
of  the  Sioux  scouts  from  the  Santee  Agency,  that  he  doubts  if  there 
is  any  village  in  the  country  which  has  so  many  young  men  of  like 


Appendix.  49 

exemplary  character,  and  he  speaks  of  how  his  heart  was  touched 
by  hearing  these  Indians  singing  in  their  worship  "Rock  of  Ages/' 
and  "Old  Hundred."  If  some  of  the  Sioux  hate  us,  it  was  our 
lying,  our  robbery,  our  cruelty,  which  have  made  them  our  foes. 
For  more  than  35  years  the  officers  of  the  North-West  Fur  Company 
bear  testimony  that  they  were  wont  to  boast  that  their  hands  had 
not  been  stained  by  the  blood  of  white  men.  You  may  begin  back 
to  the  massacre  of  Lieut.  Grattan  in  1853,  and  there  are  few  out- 
breaks which  have  not  been  the  result  of  our  own  blunders  or  crimes. 
Even  those  which  cannot  be  traced  to  some  direct  act  of  cruelty  or 
robbery  (as  was  the  Minnesota  massacre,  when  we  took  from  these 
Indians  the  avails  of  800,000  acres  of  land,  and  then  withheld  their 
annuities  for  two  months  after  they  were  due,  and  at  the  eleventh 
hour  took  other  trust  funds  to  supply  one-half  of  the  annuity  which 
had  been  wrongfully  taken,)  are  the  outcome  of  a  policy  which  leaves 
Indians  without  government,  without  personal  rights  of  property, 
without  protection,  and  subject  to  every  influence  which  can  change 
heathen  men  to  savages.  I  have  asked  scores  of  brave  officers,  who 
have  grown  gray  in  the  service,  if  they  knew  of  a  single  instance 
where  Indians  have  been  the  first  to  break  the  treaty,  and  they  have 
always  answered,  No. 

If  amid  the  irritation  of  the  present  war  some  officers  speak  with 
bitterness  and  hatred  of  the  Indian  foes,  "we  must  appeal  from 
Philip  drunk  to  Philip  sober. ' '  After  a  year  of  searching  investiga- 
tion as  to  the  causes  of  the  then  existing  Indiar  war,  Gen.  Sherman, 
Gen.  Harney,  Gen.  Terry,  and  Gen.  Augur  wrote:  "That  the 
Indian  goes  to  war  is  not  astonishing ;  he  is  often  compelled  to  do 
so ;  wrongs  are  borne  by  him  in  silence  which  never  fail  to  drive 
civilized  men  to  deeds  of  violence.  Among  civilized  men  war 
usually  springs  from  a  sense  of  injustice.  The  best  possible  way  to 
avoid  war  then,  is  to  do  no  act  of  injustice.  When  we  learn  that 
the  same  rule  holds  good  with  the  Indians,  the  principal  difficulty 
is  removed.  But  it  is  said  that  our  wars  with  them  have  been 
almost  constant.  Have  we  been  uniformly  unjust?  We  answer 
unhesitatingly,  Yes."  These  words  were  written  before  the  last 
4 


50  Appendix. 

great  robbery  of  the  Black  Hills,  and  before  the  seizure  of  their 
property  in  violation  of  the  plighted  faith  of  the  President  of  the 
United  States. 

The  Sioux  who  believed  in  and  trusted  the  late  Commission,  have 
made  an  agreement  to  cede  to  us  the  Black  Hills,  and  unless  that 
agreement  is  honestly  and  fairly  carried  out  these  Indians  will  lose 
all  faith  in  white  men.  It  will  be  to  them  another  confirmation 
that  the  name  of  "white  men"  is  a  synonym  for  "liar."  There  is 
more  reason  to  take  every  means  to  secure  again  the  confidence  of 
these  Indians,  which  has  been  so  outraged  by  the  seizure  of  their 
property  in  violation  of  law  and  the  solemn  pledges  which  were 
made  by  the  authority  of  the  President.  The  Government  owes  to 
its  own  reputation  that  it  should  honestly  pay  these  Indians  the  full 
value  of  their  ponies.  It  will  be  money  wisely  expended,  even  as  a 
precautionary  measure  to  prevent  the  continuance  of  this  war.  Un- 
less some  decided  steps  are  taken,  we  shall  have  a  war  upon  us  which 
will  cost  millions  of  treasure  and  thousands  of  lives. 

Neither  President  Grant  nor  General  Sherman  is  responsible  for 
the  seizure  of  the  ponies  of  the  friendly  Sioux.  It  was  done  with- 
out their  knowledge.  It  shows  the  objection  to  placing  friendly 
Indians  in  the  charge  of  subordinate  officers  of  the  army.  The 
lives  of  some  of  these  ponies  were  sacrificed  to  army  routine.  An 
officer  was  'asked  why  he  did  not  feed  them.  He  answered:  "I 
had  no  orders  to  feed  them,  and  if  I  had  fed  them,  I  must  have 
paid  for  it  out  of  my  own  pocket." 

This  Spring  will  see  a  mighty  exodus  of  our  people  to  the  mines 
of  the  Black  Hills.  Every  route  which  leads  there  will  swarm  with 
its  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands,  and  unless  the  war  is  ended 
and  peace  made,  this  nation  will  hear  such  a  wail  of  sorrow  as  never 
entered  our  ears  from  Indian  massacre.  We  have  tried  robbery  and 
know  its  fruits ;  let  us  try  justice  and  mercy,  and  reap  their  blessed 
fruits.  I  would  not  prophesy  evil.  God  knows  our  cup  of  iniquity 
is  full  enough  without  prophesying  more.  I  do  fear  that  the  clamor 
to  prevent  a  few  hundred  Sioux  from  going  to  the  Indian  Territory, 
of  whom  the  Santees  are  civilized  Christian  men,  and  others  are  our 


Appendix.  51 

friends,  is  simply  that  white  men  have  fixed  their  greedy  eye  upon 
that  Indian  paradise,  and  will  never  give  up  their  plans  until  it  too, 
shall  be  wrested  from  its  lawful  possessors.  Have  we  learned  noth- 
ing from  the  past  ?  There  was  a  day  when  the  people  of  Georgia 
passed  a  law  forbidding  any  one  to  teach  an  Indian.  A  missionary 
—brave,  noble  Worcester — was  put  in  jail  as  a  felon  because  he 
feared  God  rather  then  men,  and  continued  to  tell  the  heathen  of 
the  love  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  case  was  appealed  to  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  and  the  Chief  Justices,  Marshall  and 
Story,  declared  the  law  of  Georgia  was  unconstitutional.  The 
President  refused  to  execute  the  mandate  of  the  Court  and  iniquity 
triumphed.  But  in  the  sure  retribution  of  God,  He  ordered  that 
from  the  top  of  Missionary  Ridge,  the  home  of  this  martyrized 
servant  of  God,  there  should  descend  an  avenging  army  to  lay  waste 
that  goodly  land  and  humble  it  in  the  dust.  Has  there  ever  been 
a  wrong  which  will  not  be  avenged?  Not  one;  and  there  never 
will  be  until  the  cry  of  the  poor  ceases  to  enter  the  ear  of  the  Lord 
God  of  Sabaoth. 

It  is  because  I  honestly  believe  that  these  Indian  wars  are  unjust 
and  unnecessary  that  I  do  plead  for  a  wiser  and  a  better  policy.  A 
crisis  has  come.  We  shall  settle  the  Indian  question  wisely  and 
justly  so  as  to  bear  the  scrutiny  of  God,  or  we  shall  reach  out  our 
hand,  for  self-inflicted  curses  upon  ourselves  and  children.  I  should 
do  wrong  to  my  own  heart  if  I  did  not  say  that  despite  all  the  wrongs 
of  an  Indian  system  which  leaves  Indians  without  a  vestige  of  govern- 
ment, without  personal  rights,  without  power  to  protect  the  innocent 
or  to  punish  the  guilty,  without  power  to  prevent  the  violation  of 
treaties,  President  Grant  deserves  the  thanks  of  the  friends  of  the 
Indians  for  having  tried  to  secure  justice  in  the  administration  of 
Indian  affairs.  His  efforts  have  enabled  Christian  men  to  do  much 
to  civilize  and  christianize  the  Indian  tribes.  Hundreds  of  Indians 
have  been  saved,  and  men  who  eight  years  ago  were  as  wild  and 
savage  as  the  Sioux,  are  to  day  rejoicing  in  the  blessings  of  a  Chris- 
tian civilization. 

Pardon  my  long  letter.     If  I  have  written  strongly  it  is  because 


52  Appendix. 

I  do  feel  deeply.  I  do  not  war  with  individuals,  nor  do  I  blame 
the  army.  The  power  of  the  system,  which  is  a  web  of  blunders,  is 
stronger  than  men,  and  the  hate  engendered  in  all  savage  war  is 
more  powerful  than  pleas  for  mercy.  Our  rightful  king  is  the 
"Prince  of  Peace,"  and  His  words  are,  "Do  good  to  them  that 
hate  you."  The  officers  who  made  the  treaty  of  1868  said  "  that 
when  we  learn  that  this  law  is  as  universal  as  humanity,  it  is  worth 
more  than  whole  volumes  of  theories  about  Indian  character. ' '  The 
outlook  is  dark,  but  behind  all  the  clouds  is  One  who  loveth  those 
who  do  righteousness  and  will  bless  them  who  make  peace. 

H.  B.   WHIPPLE,  Bishop  of  Minnesota. 
Faribault,  Minn.,  January  joth,  1877. 


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